Worldview-Why Are We Here DNA 2010
Maybe some of you have heard of the famous rock band called Radiohead. The lead singer was once asked in an interview, “What are your ambitions after achieving so much success in the music industry?”
And he answered, “Ambitious for what? What for? I thought when I got to where I wanted to be everything would be different. I’d be somewhere else. I thought it’d be like in heaven. And then I got there and achieved the success I’ve always dreamed of. But I’m still here.”
Then why are you still making music?
He says: “It’s filling up the hole. That’s all anyone does”.
The interviewer goes on and asks: “What happens to the hole?”
There was a pause… And he finally says: “It’s still there”.
It seems like we human beings have this infinitely huge vacuum in our hearts and we try our best to fill it up with things, money, gadgets, sex, music, success, English Premier League football, religion, you name it… but it leaves us empty as before. And in some cases we see the symptoms manifested as boredom, addiction (i.e. workaholic, alcoholic or drug abuse), a sense of despair or even suicidal tendencies. More than a thousand years ago, Saint Augustine wrote that our hearts are restless until they find rest or fulfillment or satisfaction in God.
In modern terms, the psychologist Dr.Viktor Frankl said that the drive to fulfill our meaning in life is the primary motivational force in us, human beings. From his experience in a horrible Nazi prison camp, he observed how prisoners who have lost hope and meaning for the future also lose the will to survive. And those who do not have a purpose worth living for will find an inner hole and a deep sense of emptiness within their hearts.
OK fine… We need to find the purpose of life. But why can’t I live a normal, meaningful and functional life without God?
Since we’re all going to die anyway, then let’s make this world a better place. We hear speeches at funerals that so-and-so has enriched many lives so his life and death is not in vain.
Or some may say, “Since we’re all going to die, let’s seize the day! (Carpe diem) Let’s party, eat, drink and be merry for life is short. Enjoy the simple pleasures while we still live. Then life can be meaningful.”
Or the existentialists will say, “Yes, life is meaningless and absurd. But I refuse to accept it and live as if there’s meaning. Let the world be cruel and indifferent, but I will not. I will choose to be compassionate and kind. That’s authentic human life.”
Well, so far so good. But let’s do a thought experiment here… If there is no God, then we are nothing but the accidental, by-product of nature. We came from matter plus time plus chance. We hit the lottery so we were born. We are a random collision of carbon based molecules. No soul, no spirit in us. There is no reason or no purpose for our existence. Our ultimate destiny is death and nothingness.
So in a million years from now, it doesn’t ultimately matter what you did to improve the world or how many sunsets you have enjoyed. We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take anything with us. In the long run, it’s just chasing after the wind.
Maybe your life was important because it influenced the course of history like Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr. But even that is like leaving your footprints in the sand… in just a moment, the waves will come, washing over them and they are gone. In the bigger scheme of things, it makes no difference. Nothing means anything. Because our lives are not connected to something bigger than ourselves… if there is no God.
But with God, everything changes. Yes, you can work to make this world a better place. Heal the sick. Fight injustice and relieve suffering. And that only makes sense because people are created in the image of God. Therefore human lives are infinitely precious and valuable in themselves… even when they are weak, unproductive and suffering, they are still precious and worthy of our care. In a million years from now, the choices we make today will echo through eternity. One day, we will be raised back to life and God will judge our thoughts and actions. So how we live today has enormous significance.
Yes, like the existentialists, we can defy the absurdity and cruelty of the nature. But if there is no God, there is no higher law of right or wrong. Everything is just ‘survival of the fittest’. It’s only natural for the strong to prey on the weak. That’s the law of the jungle. Being kind and compassionate to the weak only makes sense if there is an objective moral law higher than the law of the jungle and a moral Lawgiver we call God. For unless you know what a straight line is, how do you know that the world is crooked? Unless we know a divine law higher than the law of nature, we cannot rationally defy nature’s cruelty and indifference.
And lastly, yes, we can enjoy the simple pleasures in life. Friendships. Love someone truly, madly, deeply. Hug a baby. Write a poem. Listen to music. Go backpacking and enjoy the sunset.
But again, that only makes sense because a creative, personal and loving Creator God made us as relational beings, able to love and reason and enjoy the beauty of creation, music and creativity. Without God, love is just a biochemical reaction in your brain. Friendships are just an illusion created by our selfish genes to help pass on our DNA to future generations. Sunsets are just light reflections and nothing more. Without God, you can only enjoy these things if you suppress thinking about what they really are. For the Christian, these pleasures of life are good gifts from God that we can enjoy. They are clues, hints that point us to the Creator who is the ultimate source of all joys.
So the funny thing is this: we can have the courage to make the world a better place and enjoy the good things in life only because God makes all these things meaningful and beautiful. Everything is full of purpose. But without God, life is absurd, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
Alright, I know what you are going to tell me, David, I need religion to give me purpose in life, right? All religious worldviews teach us to do good and if I live a better life, a less selfish life, I’d find the purpose of my life rite…
Actually, that’s not it. The Christian worldview is much more radical than that. The problem is not that we don’t know stealing, lust, hatred, attachment to worldly things, selfishness, cruelty is wrong or sinful. The problem is we already know it but we still do it. We want to do good but at the same time, we also find another desire to do exactly the opposite. It’s like our parents say “Don’t touch!” and we purposely touch it. So just getting religious advice and teachings, laws and regulations, do’s and don’ts is not the solution. The diagnosis has to be much deeper than that.
Cause if we are really honest with ourselves, we can find selfishness, greed, pride, lust and fear hidden in the deepest core of our being. I want to be good but there’s a dark side inside of me. It’s like having a split personality.
Have you heard the story of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde? Once upon a time, a brilliant scientist named Dr Jekyll came to realize that his dark side is waging a war inside him. So he comes up with a potion that can separate his good nature from his evil nature. When he drinks the potion during the day, he will be his good self and free to do what is good. But when he takes the potion at night, his bad side comes out and he becomes 10 times more selfish and evil than he normally is. This evil side of himself is called Mr Hyde, because he is hideous and because he is hidden in the dark.
Even in the best, the most righteous and kindest of us all hide something hideous in the depths of our hearts. There is a strong tendency in you and I to seek our own interests above all others, to be self-seeking… Unless we realize that we are sick, we will not look for a doctor. Unless we realize how helpless we really are, we will not turn to God.
When Dr Jekyll realizes that he is this living contradiction of good and evil, he decided to do all he can to get rid of selfishness and pride from his heart. He devoted himself to charity and good works, to drown his selfish nature with acts of kindness and sacrifice and pay for the wrongs he had done before. You know what? And it worked! He became the most moral and kind person, and stopped taking the potion at night to become Mr Hyde.
Then one fine day Dr Jekyll thinks of all the good that he has achieved, and how much better a person he was compared to others. He says, “I can say with total honesty that my decision to do good has produced great results. You know how much hard work I spent to help suffering people… But as I smiled, comparing myself with others, comparing my acts of goodness with their lazy, cruel neglect to do good… at that very moment, a horrible feeling came over me and I looked down… I was once again Mr Hyde”. At that moment, just when he has achieved his standard of being good and righteous, Jekyll transformed into Hyde again, this time without drinking any potion at all. Unable to control his transformations any longer, Jekyll killed himself.
The moral of the story is this: Covering up our selfishness and pride with lots of good works and kind deeds won’t make us less self centered. Instead they only feed into our pride and self righteousness. Jekyll becomes Hyde, not because he is bad, but precisely because he is good. If you define the purpose of your existence in terms of performance, you do good deeds motivated by self-interest (in order to get to heaven, escape from hell or to feel good about yourself, to meet expectation of others). In the end, the ultimate motive is still ‘yourself”. If you achieve it, you end up with self righteousness and pride. If you fail to achieve it, you will end up with despair and fear. Either way you still end up becoming Mr or Miss Hyde.
Here’s the difference:
Other worldviews: “Do good, obey the rules – then I will be accepted by God”.
The Good News: “I am accepted by God because of what Jesus has done – therefore I obey”.
Imagine if your Father hugs you and tells you, “Girl, you are my daughter. Boy, you are my son. I love you because you are my child. Not because of your performance in exams. No matter how you perform in exams, you are still my child and I love you. Therefore I want you to do the best you can in the exams.” How would that make you feel? Would you turn around and say, “Thanks Dad, since you love me so much, I’m gonna fail all my exams this year”? No, this kind of love releases you from fear and the crushing need to earn his love through performance. Instead it gives you a new motivation to perform i.e. because you are loved and want to please your father. You’d want to do even better. That’s exactly how God the Father accepts and loves us.
For the Christian, the purpose of life is LOVE – “ To love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves”. That’s why we obey God. Not out of fear, but out of love. 2000 years ago, God Himself came into the world and became a man. His name was Jesus the Christ. While we are still sinners, still disobedient and undeserving of God’s love, Jesus lived the perfect life that we should have lived and died the sacrificial death that we should have died. We should have died for our sins but the Lord Jesus laid down His life for us. This is the reason God came into the world. He came to rescue us. He came to be crucified on the cross to take all our guilt, punishment and shame upon Himself. Because He loves us, He opens the way so that we can be forgiven and accepted by God. The Good News is: “You are accepted by God because of what Jesus has done – therefore you obey out of love, not out of fear”.
So the Purpose of life is not an abstract principle, a theorem, a set of rules and regulations you can find in a book. The Purpose of life is a Person. You can have relationship with this person, to love and be loved by God. The good news is Christ loves us more than we ever dare imagine even though we are more sinful than we’d ever dreamed of!
Not only that, on Easter Sunday he was resurrected from the grave! Jesus is the only Person to have conquered death itself. Death will not be the last word. It is not the end of everything. Because what God has done in Christ He will one day do for us and the rest of creation! Our physical bodies will be transformed to glory. The heavens and the earth will be renewed and purified. And this project has already started like a mustard seed in the world, ever growing and swelling and spreading. In the meantime, we are called to be the ambassadors of God’s kingdom on earth – in our lives, in our studies, in our worship, in our work, in our relationships to reflect God’s love to the world. We will say something more about this later.
If you will place your trust on Jesus at the center of your being, and let Him shape your life, you will be transformed. You will love because God first loved you. You forgive others because God has forgiven you; and you serve others because God has served you. In a million years from now, you will have eternal life, caught up in wonder and awe in the presence of God forever. This is the purpose of life according to the Christian worldview.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Why is Worlview Important?
Worldview-Introduction DNA 2010
The big questions in life that people ask for thousands of years: “Where do we come from? Who am I? Where are we going?”
Have you ever looked up on a starry night and wonder, “Why on earth are we here for?” Or perhaps, you wake up in the morning, open your eyes and look at yourself in the mirror and think, “How do I know I’m not wasting my life? What is the point of living if everything, absolutely everything ends in death?” No matter how advanced medical technology becomes, in about two hundred years from now, everyone in this room today will no longer be alive. No one can escape from this. If death is the final destination, and that’s all there is to it, then what difference does it make?
And the moment you begin to ask these questions at some point in your life, you begin to think about the ultimate issues that all religions and philosophies throughout the centuries have tried to understand. Consciously or unconsciously, every one has a mental map of what the universe is like and a vision for what life is all about. Whether you realize it or not, the way you answer these big questions reveal your assumptions, your ideas and your views of the world. It’s your worldview.
"A worldview is, first of all, an explanation and interpretation of the world and second, an application of this view to life. In simpler terms, our worldview is a view of the world and a view for the world." You know, without my glasses, I can’t see very well… everything is blurred. I wear glasses so that my vision can be refocused to see more clearly. Similarly, our worldview is like a pair of contact lenses through which we look at life, our own selves, the world and what is ultimately real.
OK fine… but why should we spend time understanding worldviews? Is it important at all? Isn’t it just some philosophical stuff that has no connection to real life?
Today I would like to give you FOUR reasons why intentionally working out the Christian worldview can be both practical and important. How you answer these big questions in life will have great impact on the way you live the Christian life.
Reason No.1: We need to understand the Christian worldview (or how the Bible answers these big questions) because it is part of loving God. It is the discipleship of our mind.
Who can tell me – What is the greatest commandment? It is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our strength, with all our soul and with all our mind. This is the great and first commandment that sums up the entire law. True Christian spirituality involves our whole being - heart, head and hand. Our feeling, thinking and doing are all involved in loving and following God.
If we do not love God with all our heart, what happens? Well, our spiritual life will be all head knowledge but there is no real passion, desire or joy in it. We merely analyze God but we don’t worship Him. And if we do not love God with all our strength, then no practical fruit comes out of our beliefs. It’s NATO - “No Action Talk Only”. But what happens if we do not love the Lord our God with “all our mind”?
If we do not care for our mind, we may run around with lots of meetings, programs and activities (giving an appearance of vibrant spiritual life) but we don’t stop and reflect “Why are we doing this? Is this biblical? We may do things right but are we doing the right things?” Or we may also run the danger of emotionalism – that means, having lots of misguided passion, having lots of zeal but without wisdom. Sad but true, I’ve come across some sincere but seriously misguided people who slither on the floor like snakes, roar like tigers, bark like dogs because they mistakenly believed that is what God wanted them to do. Truth without emotion produce dead orthodoxy but emotion without a true vision of the greatness of God produces a shallow frenzy. But God is looking for worshippers who worship both in spirit and in truth. Passionate feelings for God rooted in sound doctrine about God will express itself in songs, shouts, tears, silent awe, confessions and obedient lives. We love God with our mind by letting our understanding of life and of the world to be shaped and informed by what God has revealed to us in Scripture. We learn to think biblically and theologically with God’s gift of our intellect.
Reason No.2: Understanding the Christian worldview equips you to discern what is right and beautiful from what is ugly and wrong in our culture.
You see, when a medical doctor and I look at the same skin problem, we “see” radically different things. The trained doctor can observe more because with years of study, her mind is filled with relevant medical concepts that enable her to look for the right things and tell me whether it’s a cancerous or not. Whereas I can stare at the sore all day and not see what she saw. Believe me, this ability to discern is something very practical. It can make a difference between life and death. Similarly, if your mind is equipped with biblical concepts like creation, sin and redemption, you are able to look at life and the world and see things that others don’t even notice. You can see beyond surface appearance in world events, movies, books, culture or people and discern truth from error, right from wrong, beauty from ugliness.
A good worldview is a very practical thing. When I don’t know the way to STM Seremban, having a good map helps me decide whether to turn left at this junction or right at that traffic light. The map itself is not STM but just a smaller model of the real thing. But if the map is accurate, it can be very useful. In the same way, having an accurate mental map of reality guides your navigation through difficult decisions in the world.
Because what we believe to be true has a powerful influence over how we should live. For example, if we view human life as just a biological machine, we won’t be terribly inclined to treat it with much dignity or respect. It’s just a machine. If it breaks down, there’s no big deal. But if we see human beings as more than biology but also a person made in the image of God with infinite worth, it compels us to treat life as sacred and other people with dignity and respect. Sound theology is practical when it connects to life and flows from the head to the heart and to our hands. True knowledge and living experience should enrich each other.
Nowadays, information about anything under the sun is just a Google search away. We cannot totally isolate ourselves from ideas… even dangerous ideas or deceptive philosophies out there in the market. And if we do not submit our thinking to God’s revelation, then obviously our minds will be easily influenced by worldly ways of life. We may still call ourselves Christians but we absorb notions about wealth, about sex and about success from Lady Gaga music videos, popular movies, novels or Youtube without even knowing it. Our thinking will be shaped by the patterns of this world, all those big words like hedonism that says (Life is short. Grab all the fun you can get), or consumerism (I shop till I drop because my social status depends on what I buy) or pragmatism (Whatever. As long as it works, I don’t care how you do it), and all sorts of other ‘ism or worldviews about life.
But the Bible says: “Do not be conformed to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the renewal of your minds”. It doesn’t say “Be transformed by the removal of your minds”! So we don’t need to remove our brains in order to be a Christian. In fact, renewing our mind with God’s truth and kingdom values is crucial to our holiness. Jesus says we are light of the world and salt of the earth, But if the salt loses its saltiness or gets mixed up with worldly values, then it is no longer of any use. The way we handle money, success, relationships and power should point the way to a radically different way of being human. For example, the popular culture often makes success, money or sex into an obsession or an idol: “I must have it!” But if we are equipped with a Christian worldview, we will march to a different drum beat. For example… Because sex is a precious gift from God to express a lifelong, exclusive love between a man and a woman, we do not cheapen it but rather celebrate it in the context of an exclusive, self-giving commitment. That means abstinence outside of marriage and faithfulness within marriage.
Regarding power and money, the Christian worldview defines success not as the wealth we accumulate but in terms of serving others. That means a radically generous sharing of our time, energy and resources to social justice and the needs of the poor, the immigrant, and the physically weak. So Jesus’ Kingdom turns the world upside down and inside out: You must die to live. You must lose to gain. Weakness is strength. Joy in the midst of suffering. Love those who persecute you. Pray for those who hate you. It is not the strong or the violent who will inherit the earth, but the meek. If our minds are renewed with a biblical worldview, then we can begin to transform culture instead of conforming to culture.
Reason No 3: Understanding the Christian worldview helps you to be an informed ambassador for Christ to your friends and family (gospel witness).
I wonder if your friends have asked you questions like, “Why do you believe in God? What do you think is the meaning in life? What happens after we die? Why do you believe the Bible?” How would you answer them? Would you say, “Don’t ask so many questions, just believe-lah!”? Last year I met an American lady on a tour bus in Vietnam. She works as a scientist for a research program, trying to find a cure for cancer. As we talked, she told me that she envies her Christian friends for their faith. She says “It’s so easy for them but it’s hard for me to believe because as a scientist, I’ve been trained to think critically and ask questions first”. So I encouraged her, “Sometimes people ask questions not because of unbelief, but because they are serious about the truth”. Then I recommended her a book by a famous Christian scientist as she tried to understand evolution and hope it’s helpful to her.
But to a lot of people like her, when you wish something is true but suspect that it actually doesn’t exist you need faith. And when you know for sure that something isn’t true and you still believe in it, then you must have very great faith indeed. But biblical faith is not wishful thinking, but based on facts. Although faith is beyond reason, it is not against reason. It is not blind faith or intellectual suicide. True faith involves knowledge, agreement and trust. For example, I can examine that this is a chair, it has four legs. That’s knowledge of the facts. But knowing alone is not enough, I must agree that yes, this chair is strong enough to support my weight. But knowing and agreeing alone won’t do me any good unless I put a personal commitment to rest my weight on that chair. So faith has both objective facts as well as personal trust. You need to know the facts of the Christian faith, you need to be convicted that they are true and reliable, and you need to put your personal trust to embrace and practise these truths. Our hearts, head and hands are all involved in the act of faith.
Therefore, our feeling, doing and thinking should also be involved when we witness to our friends. The apostle Peter says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” (1 Peter 3:15-16). The command to be ready with an answer for seekers or skeptics’ questions is for the whole church. It is not reserved to an elite group of scholars or intellectuals. All of us are called to be prepared to give our friends a reason for the hope that we have in Christ. To do that, we obviously need to know something about what we really believe and why we believe the things we believe. In other words we need to know the Christian worldview of life.
For example, you may be playing Counterstrike with your friends one day and he turns around and asks you, “Eh, what is the meaning in life, ar? The Bible got answer or not?” How would you answer? If you don’t know, never mind, go home, look it up in books, ask your pastor, do some research and get back to him. But if he asks same question 2-3 times, and your answer is always “I dunno” then it just shows that this is not important even to you so why should I bother? If you understand what the Bible says about the big questions in life, you will be able to use this opportunity to present the gospel effectively. A Christian worldview enables you to compare the answers from other worldviews and show why the biblical answers are much more compelling and satisfying.
Reason 4: Understanding Christian worldview helps you to connect your faith with every area of life
A school teacher once drew a vertical line on the blackboard. On the left, she drew a heart and on the right, she drew a brain. “The heart is what you used to worship God at home. But in my class, we are going to study science with our brains so we shouldn’t mix them together.” The heart is what you used in a relationship with God but the brain is what you used while studying science, computers, economics and history in school. Like it or not, this worldview called dualism is very popular even among Christians.
There is a separation of the heart for spiritual stuffs and the mind for secular stuffs. When that happens, no wonder our faith has so little impact on how we do our work or studies in the world. And no wonder our ‘daily activities’ outside the church has very little to do with God or the gospel. It happens to some young Christians I know that the more they study and work in science, for example, the further they feel apart from God because they have separated the mind from loving God. The famous Christian scientist Kepler once said that when we discover scientific laws in nature, we are actually thinking after God’s thoughts. What true knowledge we discover in biology or physics or chemistry are clues that point us to the wisdom of God and leads us to wonder and worship. All truth is God’s truth.
When was the last time you were encouraged to think Christianly as a student of law, business, information technology or education? We need to develop a Christian mindset for every area in life. A Christian mind is not simply thinking about topics like prayer, worship, bible study or spiritual warfare. Whatever our calling is, we need to learn to think and live “Christianly” in areas specific to what we do – be it in media, education, business, technology, politics or the arts. In humility and boldness, we should creatively integrate our faith with our vocation. What does it mean to be a Christian artist?
If you are a businessperson, you are an “ordained businessperson”. You have been summoned by God to serve Him in that specific sphere of activity. Or, if you are an “ordained lawyer”, you are called to prayerfully explore how your discipline can be used to serve justice and order in society. Or if you are an “ordained artist”, you could create art as a spiritual act of worship and reflect the beauty of creation. With great power comes great responsibility (Spiderman). A Christian worldview allows you to be faithful to your calling and the gifts that God has given you in the marketplace.
Consciously or not, all of us already have some basic ideas about how to look at life and the world that guide our actions like contact lenses through which we see everything else.
The only question is “Is our worldview biblical or not? Do we have a Christian worldview?” It is important for us to examine our worldview together in light of God’s word.
Gordon Fee: why must we choose between ‘fool on fire’ or a ‘scholar on ice’? Lord, help me to be a “scholar on fire”. Not everyone is called to be a scholar, but it is my prayer and hope that we should all be disciples of Jesus whose minds continually grow in knowledge and hearts continually burn with passion.
The big questions in life that people ask for thousands of years: “Where do we come from? Who am I? Where are we going?”
Have you ever looked up on a starry night and wonder, “Why on earth are we here for?” Or perhaps, you wake up in the morning, open your eyes and look at yourself in the mirror and think, “How do I know I’m not wasting my life? What is the point of living if everything, absolutely everything ends in death?” No matter how advanced medical technology becomes, in about two hundred years from now, everyone in this room today will no longer be alive. No one can escape from this. If death is the final destination, and that’s all there is to it, then what difference does it make?
And the moment you begin to ask these questions at some point in your life, you begin to think about the ultimate issues that all religions and philosophies throughout the centuries have tried to understand. Consciously or unconsciously, every one has a mental map of what the universe is like and a vision for what life is all about. Whether you realize it or not, the way you answer these big questions reveal your assumptions, your ideas and your views of the world. It’s your worldview.
"A worldview is, first of all, an explanation and interpretation of the world and second, an application of this view to life. In simpler terms, our worldview is a view of the world and a view for the world." You know, without my glasses, I can’t see very well… everything is blurred. I wear glasses so that my vision can be refocused to see more clearly. Similarly, our worldview is like a pair of contact lenses through which we look at life, our own selves, the world and what is ultimately real.
OK fine… but why should we spend time understanding worldviews? Is it important at all? Isn’t it just some philosophical stuff that has no connection to real life?
Today I would like to give you FOUR reasons why intentionally working out the Christian worldview can be both practical and important. How you answer these big questions in life will have great impact on the way you live the Christian life.
Reason No.1: We need to understand the Christian worldview (or how the Bible answers these big questions) because it is part of loving God. It is the discipleship of our mind.
Who can tell me – What is the greatest commandment? It is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our strength, with all our soul and with all our mind. This is the great and first commandment that sums up the entire law. True Christian spirituality involves our whole being - heart, head and hand. Our feeling, thinking and doing are all involved in loving and following God.
If we do not love God with all our heart, what happens? Well, our spiritual life will be all head knowledge but there is no real passion, desire or joy in it. We merely analyze God but we don’t worship Him. And if we do not love God with all our strength, then no practical fruit comes out of our beliefs. It’s NATO - “No Action Talk Only”. But what happens if we do not love the Lord our God with “all our mind”?
If we do not care for our mind, we may run around with lots of meetings, programs and activities (giving an appearance of vibrant spiritual life) but we don’t stop and reflect “Why are we doing this? Is this biblical? We may do things right but are we doing the right things?” Or we may also run the danger of emotionalism – that means, having lots of misguided passion, having lots of zeal but without wisdom. Sad but true, I’ve come across some sincere but seriously misguided people who slither on the floor like snakes, roar like tigers, bark like dogs because they mistakenly believed that is what God wanted them to do. Truth without emotion produce dead orthodoxy but emotion without a true vision of the greatness of God produces a shallow frenzy. But God is looking for worshippers who worship both in spirit and in truth. Passionate feelings for God rooted in sound doctrine about God will express itself in songs, shouts, tears, silent awe, confessions and obedient lives. We love God with our mind by letting our understanding of life and of the world to be shaped and informed by what God has revealed to us in Scripture. We learn to think biblically and theologically with God’s gift of our intellect.
Reason No.2: Understanding the Christian worldview equips you to discern what is right and beautiful from what is ugly and wrong in our culture.
You see, when a medical doctor and I look at the same skin problem, we “see” radically different things. The trained doctor can observe more because with years of study, her mind is filled with relevant medical concepts that enable her to look for the right things and tell me whether it’s a cancerous or not. Whereas I can stare at the sore all day and not see what she saw. Believe me, this ability to discern is something very practical. It can make a difference between life and death. Similarly, if your mind is equipped with biblical concepts like creation, sin and redemption, you are able to look at life and the world and see things that others don’t even notice. You can see beyond surface appearance in world events, movies, books, culture or people and discern truth from error, right from wrong, beauty from ugliness.
A good worldview is a very practical thing. When I don’t know the way to STM Seremban, having a good map helps me decide whether to turn left at this junction or right at that traffic light. The map itself is not STM but just a smaller model of the real thing. But if the map is accurate, it can be very useful. In the same way, having an accurate mental map of reality guides your navigation through difficult decisions in the world.
Because what we believe to be true has a powerful influence over how we should live. For example, if we view human life as just a biological machine, we won’t be terribly inclined to treat it with much dignity or respect. It’s just a machine. If it breaks down, there’s no big deal. But if we see human beings as more than biology but also a person made in the image of God with infinite worth, it compels us to treat life as sacred and other people with dignity and respect. Sound theology is practical when it connects to life and flows from the head to the heart and to our hands. True knowledge and living experience should enrich each other.
Nowadays, information about anything under the sun is just a Google search away. We cannot totally isolate ourselves from ideas… even dangerous ideas or deceptive philosophies out there in the market. And if we do not submit our thinking to God’s revelation, then obviously our minds will be easily influenced by worldly ways of life. We may still call ourselves Christians but we absorb notions about wealth, about sex and about success from Lady Gaga music videos, popular movies, novels or Youtube without even knowing it. Our thinking will be shaped by the patterns of this world, all those big words like hedonism that says (Life is short. Grab all the fun you can get), or consumerism (I shop till I drop because my social status depends on what I buy) or pragmatism (Whatever. As long as it works, I don’t care how you do it), and all sorts of other ‘ism or worldviews about life.
But the Bible says: “Do not be conformed to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the renewal of your minds”. It doesn’t say “Be transformed by the removal of your minds”! So we don’t need to remove our brains in order to be a Christian. In fact, renewing our mind with God’s truth and kingdom values is crucial to our holiness. Jesus says we are light of the world and salt of the earth, But if the salt loses its saltiness or gets mixed up with worldly values, then it is no longer of any use. The way we handle money, success, relationships and power should point the way to a radically different way of being human. For example, the popular culture often makes success, money or sex into an obsession or an idol: “I must have it!” But if we are equipped with a Christian worldview, we will march to a different drum beat. For example… Because sex is a precious gift from God to express a lifelong, exclusive love between a man and a woman, we do not cheapen it but rather celebrate it in the context of an exclusive, self-giving commitment. That means abstinence outside of marriage and faithfulness within marriage.
Regarding power and money, the Christian worldview defines success not as the wealth we accumulate but in terms of serving others. That means a radically generous sharing of our time, energy and resources to social justice and the needs of the poor, the immigrant, and the physically weak. So Jesus’ Kingdom turns the world upside down and inside out: You must die to live. You must lose to gain. Weakness is strength. Joy in the midst of suffering. Love those who persecute you. Pray for those who hate you. It is not the strong or the violent who will inherit the earth, but the meek. If our minds are renewed with a biblical worldview, then we can begin to transform culture instead of conforming to culture.
Reason No 3: Understanding the Christian worldview helps you to be an informed ambassador for Christ to your friends and family (gospel witness).
I wonder if your friends have asked you questions like, “Why do you believe in God? What do you think is the meaning in life? What happens after we die? Why do you believe the Bible?” How would you answer them? Would you say, “Don’t ask so many questions, just believe-lah!”? Last year I met an American lady on a tour bus in Vietnam. She works as a scientist for a research program, trying to find a cure for cancer. As we talked, she told me that she envies her Christian friends for their faith. She says “It’s so easy for them but it’s hard for me to believe because as a scientist, I’ve been trained to think critically and ask questions first”. So I encouraged her, “Sometimes people ask questions not because of unbelief, but because they are serious about the truth”. Then I recommended her a book by a famous Christian scientist as she tried to understand evolution and hope it’s helpful to her.
But to a lot of people like her, when you wish something is true but suspect that it actually doesn’t exist you need faith. And when you know for sure that something isn’t true and you still believe in it, then you must have very great faith indeed. But biblical faith is not wishful thinking, but based on facts. Although faith is beyond reason, it is not against reason. It is not blind faith or intellectual suicide. True faith involves knowledge, agreement and trust. For example, I can examine that this is a chair, it has four legs. That’s knowledge of the facts. But knowing alone is not enough, I must agree that yes, this chair is strong enough to support my weight. But knowing and agreeing alone won’t do me any good unless I put a personal commitment to rest my weight on that chair. So faith has both objective facts as well as personal trust. You need to know the facts of the Christian faith, you need to be convicted that they are true and reliable, and you need to put your personal trust to embrace and practise these truths. Our hearts, head and hands are all involved in the act of faith.
Therefore, our feeling, doing and thinking should also be involved when we witness to our friends. The apostle Peter says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” (1 Peter 3:15-16). The command to be ready with an answer for seekers or skeptics’ questions is for the whole church. It is not reserved to an elite group of scholars or intellectuals. All of us are called to be prepared to give our friends a reason for the hope that we have in Christ. To do that, we obviously need to know something about what we really believe and why we believe the things we believe. In other words we need to know the Christian worldview of life.
For example, you may be playing Counterstrike with your friends one day and he turns around and asks you, “Eh, what is the meaning in life, ar? The Bible got answer or not?” How would you answer? If you don’t know, never mind, go home, look it up in books, ask your pastor, do some research and get back to him. But if he asks same question 2-3 times, and your answer is always “I dunno” then it just shows that this is not important even to you so why should I bother? If you understand what the Bible says about the big questions in life, you will be able to use this opportunity to present the gospel effectively. A Christian worldview enables you to compare the answers from other worldviews and show why the biblical answers are much more compelling and satisfying.
Reason 4: Understanding Christian worldview helps you to connect your faith with every area of life
A school teacher once drew a vertical line on the blackboard. On the left, she drew a heart and on the right, she drew a brain. “The heart is what you used to worship God at home. But in my class, we are going to study science with our brains so we shouldn’t mix them together.” The heart is what you used in a relationship with God but the brain is what you used while studying science, computers, economics and history in school. Like it or not, this worldview called dualism is very popular even among Christians.
There is a separation of the heart for spiritual stuffs and the mind for secular stuffs. When that happens, no wonder our faith has so little impact on how we do our work or studies in the world. And no wonder our ‘daily activities’ outside the church has very little to do with God or the gospel. It happens to some young Christians I know that the more they study and work in science, for example, the further they feel apart from God because they have separated the mind from loving God. The famous Christian scientist Kepler once said that when we discover scientific laws in nature, we are actually thinking after God’s thoughts. What true knowledge we discover in biology or physics or chemistry are clues that point us to the wisdom of God and leads us to wonder and worship. All truth is God’s truth.
When was the last time you were encouraged to think Christianly as a student of law, business, information technology or education? We need to develop a Christian mindset for every area in life. A Christian mind is not simply thinking about topics like prayer, worship, bible study or spiritual warfare. Whatever our calling is, we need to learn to think and live “Christianly” in areas specific to what we do – be it in media, education, business, technology, politics or the arts. In humility and boldness, we should creatively integrate our faith with our vocation. What does it mean to be a Christian artist?
If you are a businessperson, you are an “ordained businessperson”. You have been summoned by God to serve Him in that specific sphere of activity. Or, if you are an “ordained lawyer”, you are called to prayerfully explore how your discipline can be used to serve justice and order in society. Or if you are an “ordained artist”, you could create art as a spiritual act of worship and reflect the beauty of creation. With great power comes great responsibility (Spiderman). A Christian worldview allows you to be faithful to your calling and the gifts that God has given you in the marketplace.
Consciously or not, all of us already have some basic ideas about how to look at life and the world that guide our actions like contact lenses through which we see everything else.
The only question is “Is our worldview biblical or not? Do we have a Christian worldview?” It is important for us to examine our worldview together in light of God’s word.
Gordon Fee: why must we choose between ‘fool on fire’ or a ‘scholar on ice’? Lord, help me to be a “scholar on fire”. Not everyone is called to be a scholar, but it is my prayer and hope that we should all be disciples of Jesus whose minds continually grow in knowledge and hearts continually burn with passion.
Thursday, December 09, 2010
Friday, December 03, 2010
Taking Your Soul To Work (Book)
The book Alvin Ung has written, Taking Your Soul to Work, has arrived in Malaysia (it was published in US mid-November). It can be purchased at Pustaka SUFES in Petaling Jaya.
The book could serve as a reflective reading for people before they begin work in January. It can also be for people who are stressed out by work, find their jobs meaningless, or desire for something more than just working the daily grind. This book is definitely for people who desire to find God in all things, and to
grow spiritually while working.
Here is how Alvin described the book: "I began writing the book four years ago with Paul Stevens, my
professor and mentor. We share a common passion helping Christians integrate their faith and work. Paul and I saw that for many people, including myself, work is often a hindrance to spiritual growth. At
work, our prayer life suffers. We get stressed, irritable, fearful. Work draws out our dark side and sinful tendencies.
This book helps thoughtful Christians to see the workplace as an arena for spiritual growth and transformation. Since we spent most of our waking hours doing work of some kind (at home or in the office),
wouldn't be fantastic if we could see our workplace as a holy space where we can grow in godliness and discover God's loving presence in the midst of great struggle?
The book costs RM36. Each of the 30 chapters addresses 21st century challenges and dilemmas. Paul and I have provided tools to help people grow spiritually while working. We have developed a framework that helps people take ownership of their soul-sapping struggles, experience the nine-fold fruit of the Spirit, and become the people God meant us to be.
It's written in a world of Blackberries and 24-7 work culture. We also suggest practical tips for Christians to become vibrant disciples in the workplace. Although this is a book published by an American publisher for US/international readers, I am delighted and proud to say that there are many Malaysian examples (including satay) in the book. I've written about Pastor Fong Yang's mentor, Dr David Gunaratnam, a dentist, in one of the chapters.
You can check out what it looks like here: http://www.amazon.com/Taking-Your-Soul-Work-Overcoming/dp/0802865593
Pastor Wong has read an advance copy. Here's what he said in a blurb:
"The Malaysian Church is big on transforming the workplace, but I think the more pressing need is that God will use the workplace to transform us first and then we become catalyst of transformation.
People need to see the gospel impacting our lives. The authors show us how God shapes us into His likeness -- especially when we experience His presence amid great challenges. With this book, all Christians can look forward to going to work."
Eugene Peterson (pastor, scholar and author of over 30 books, including The Message) has written this in our foreword:
"If you are among the growing number of Christian men and women who want to take your souls into your workplace, this is the book for you. Paul Stevens and Alvin Ung are wise guides. You can trust them. This is a major work for restoring dignity to the laity."
Here's what other theologians and business leaders have to say about the book:
"In the competitive marketplace where self and the soul are often insidiously compromised, this book comes as a good antidote to take a pit stop to process the state of our inner being. The exercises in each chapter are superbly crafted."
Dr Daniel Ho, Senior Pastor, Damansara Utama Methodist Church (DUMC)
"Many people talk about doing things for God in the workplace, but it is easy to forget God's presence while we work. With this book, all Christians can look forward to going to work."
Wong Fong Yang, Senior Pastor, City Discipleship Presbyterian Church (CDPC)
"Amazingly simple... profoundly deep... spiritually challenging. Taking Your Soul to Work will revolutionize your thinking and transform your busy and intense work life. I have been profoundly inspired by this book."
Yaw Chun Soon, Executive Director of TA Enterprise, and Head of SIB Marketplace Ministry
"Reading this book has stirred up my thoughts on what it means to grow spiritually in the workplace when we welcome God in the centre of it all. The authors have given me a deeper insight on how to be attentive to His presence in the midst of a busy workweek."
Helen Read, Managing Director, MS READ
"The practices for daily life help us discover that it's more about God at work in us, than us trying to work it all out on our own."
Sivin Kit, pastor of Bangsara Lutheran Church, and blogs at http://sivinkit.net/
"A unique book ... full of deep theological insights and draws on the time-tested resources found in the Christian spiritual tradition. At the same time it is a practical workbook offering sensible answers tothe common pitfalls in the modern workplace."
Simon Chan, Professor of Systematic Theology, Trinity Theological College, Singapore
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Discover Your Life Calling
One of the guiding principles of CDPC Puchong is Integration of Faith and Work (celebrate God's presence at home, work and rest. Equip followers of Christ in the marketplace). And we had great pleasure and honor to celebrate the dedication of Han Meng and Doris' legal office in Subang Jaya today. We walk through different parts of the office, praying for God's presence and wisdom and courage as they work out their calling in the marketplace. That coincides with this Sunday's sermon on "What On Earth Am I Here For: Discover Your Life Calling"
Discover Your Life Calling
Powerpoint slides downloadable below:
Discover Our Calling
Discover Your Life Calling
Powerpoint slides downloadable below:
Discover Our Calling
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Free eBook on Spiritual Formation of a People of God
This is an ebook based on reflections on 1 Chronicles
Please download here
This is offered free in the hope that you will be edified by reading it. Please accept this gift and also send it to your friends.
Blessings,
Alex
Please download here
This is offered free in the hope that you will be edified by reading it. Please accept this gift and also send it to your friends.
Blessings,
Alex
Friday, October 22, 2010
Spiritual Art-Making: Chong Keng Sen (Interview)
Source: Createlevoyage (Writer: Aaron Lee)
Chong Keng Sen is pastor of Hope Evangelical Free Church (Chinese) and a visual artist. He recently organised and curated the first Malaysian International Christian Artists Show 2009, an annual regional exhibition in Kuala Lumpur. More details of the show can be found at http://www.artmalaysia.com.my/galeri/2009Micas.html
Aaron: What are your present artistic preoccupations?
Chong Keng Sen (CKS): Since I left my lecturing days at the Kuala Lumpur College of Art in 2000, to continue my artistic vocation, I have been exhibiting my art both locally and overseas. Back then, as I was also the head of the communication design department, it was difficult to juggle art-making with my responsibilities.
During the mid-’70s to early ’80s, I was quite active in the local arts scene. I was among 23 artists invited for the inaugural Malaysian Young Contemporary show organised by the National Art Gallery, in 1977. Around this time I also became the pastor of a Chinese-speaking church that my wife and I had started some years previously. This new arrangement allowed me to fulfill my artistic vocation. For this, I am grateful to the church leadership for their encouragement and support.
I have a passion for networking with other Christian artists, and exploring ways to help the local Christian community understand the significance of the arts. I have had opportunities to teach in local seminaries and at conferences related to this subject. In 2009, I took up the offer to curate the Malaysian International Artists Show (MICAS09), in which artists from 11 countries participated. I am now preparing for another exhibition in conjunction with the 2010 Christian Conference of Asia assembly, which is held every five years. This exhibition will feature Malaysian Christian artists from the Unity Art Fellowship (AUF), of which I am the advisor. I am also tasked to research and write on the development of Malaysian Christian visual art. Lastly, as the Malaysian coordinator for BuildaBridge International, I am preparing an art camp for refugee children. BuildaBridge International is a Philadelphia-based non-profit art education and intervention organisation that engages the transformative power of the arts to bring hope and healing to societies in need.
Aaron: Is there a particular specific issue or theme that you are exploring at length in your art?
CKS: I agree with the Augustinian understanding that man is a spiritual entity. Presently, I am preoccupied with the spiritual dimension of man, informed by the Biblical worldview. Materialism with its utilitarian logic has sought to replace the need for God. But man is made in God’s image — hence there is a relentless existential tension.
I want my art to bring out the ‘spiritual man’ that is rooted in the divine — over and against the unfortunate, blinding, pursuit of material things. I feel an urgency to heighten this spirituality which is unique to the human race; we are caught up in a materialistic-driven environment, and it is imperative therefore both as an artist and a biblically-informed Christian to dwell on this particular subject. Most of today’s critical issues can only be addressed by a renewal of our spiritual consciousness rooted in the Biblical paradigm.
Aaron: Where does this preoccupation fit into your development as an artist so far?
CKS: Only in the past three years or so, I have begun exploring the ‘motif’ which I think will occupy me for the rest of my life. By this I mean that I hope and seek to heighten man’s spirituality through my art. All of life is spiritual and has spiritual values and implications whatever the human situations and conditions. I want my viewers to remember their spiritual ‘rooting’ in the God of the Bible.
As an example, in my self-portrait I painted myself both as a Chinese as well as one rooted in the Adamic lineage. It is both a recognition and a celebrative gesture, spiritually speaking, hence the art work is entitled Adam’s Song. The ongoing ‘fantasy’ series of imaginary islands and rivers speaks of our longing for something beyond mere materialistic needs in the face of our present man-made degradation — we are spiritual beings.
Aaron: Do you see your work as a calling from God, and in what way?
CKS: It is my conviction that I am made in God’s image. Therefore it is axiomatic that this created image should reflect in various degrees the creative attributes of the Creator (as revealed in the Bible). I am not saying this simply because I am a Christian. Back before I received Christ, I had always accepted the notion of God — especially since, as an art student, I had spent a lot of time observing the natural world.
Aaron: What is the biggest spiritual obstacle you face in your art?
CKS: To me, art-making is primarily both a doxological act — a spiritual act of worship — and a ministering act — the sharing of a life. Again, I do not say this because I am a Christian and a pastor. The fact is that I am constantly being reminded about this spiritual reality in the art of Kandinsky, and recently, of Damien Hirst. I would like to point out that author Ben Okri also likened his writings as an act of prayer.
Thus, for me, the biggest spiritual obstacle is maintaining the integrity of my art-making. This is because my motifs (subject matter) come from my meditating on the Bible and my constant reflection upon what I read in contemporary contexts. This is why I make art, and why I always do so with much rejoicing! Moreover, making something meaningful and pleasing in the ‘here and now’ is also a way to anticipate what I believe will be comprehensive artistic opportunities in the ‘post-Consummation Age’. The Biblical prophetic writings, especially in Isaiah, vividly envision God’s re-creation of the new heaven and the new earth. I like to imagine that in that time, artists will be able to create art in the way that creativity is are truly meant to function.
CKS: Definitely! There’s Giotto, Masaccio, Fra Angelico, Zurbaran, and Barlach, for example. Viewing their works in church settings is both meaningful and inspirational. (Personally, admiring Giotto’s fresco in the Arena Chapel, Padua, is much more enjoyable aesthetically and spiritually speaking than perusing Michelangelo’s in the Sistine Chapel.) Contemporaries like HeQi and Emmanuel Garibay are like beacons that lead the way forward. For me, foremost among them is George Rouault. I aspire to be like him in the way he lived his life — as an authentic (spiritual) human being who sought to fulfil his artistic vocation without the hype that is expected of an artist in our modern-post-modern strictures of ‘high art elitism’.
PS: You may view some of Ps Chong's works at this event
Chong Keng Sen is pastor of Hope Evangelical Free Church (Chinese) and a visual artist. He recently organised and curated the first Malaysian International Christian Artists Show 2009, an annual regional exhibition in Kuala Lumpur. More details of the show can be found at http://www.artmalaysia.com.my/galeri/2009Micas.html
Aaron: What are your present artistic preoccupations?
Chong Keng Sen (CKS): Since I left my lecturing days at the Kuala Lumpur College of Art in 2000, to continue my artistic vocation, I have been exhibiting my art both locally and overseas. Back then, as I was also the head of the communication design department, it was difficult to juggle art-making with my responsibilities.
During the mid-’70s to early ’80s, I was quite active in the local arts scene. I was among 23 artists invited for the inaugural Malaysian Young Contemporary show organised by the National Art Gallery, in 1977. Around this time I also became the pastor of a Chinese-speaking church that my wife and I had started some years previously. This new arrangement allowed me to fulfill my artistic vocation. For this, I am grateful to the church leadership for their encouragement and support.
I have a passion for networking with other Christian artists, and exploring ways to help the local Christian community understand the significance of the arts. I have had opportunities to teach in local seminaries and at conferences related to this subject. In 2009, I took up the offer to curate the Malaysian International Artists Show (MICAS09), in which artists from 11 countries participated. I am now preparing for another exhibition in conjunction with the 2010 Christian Conference of Asia assembly, which is held every five years. This exhibition will feature Malaysian Christian artists from the Unity Art Fellowship (AUF), of which I am the advisor. I am also tasked to research and write on the development of Malaysian Christian visual art. Lastly, as the Malaysian coordinator for BuildaBridge International, I am preparing an art camp for refugee children. BuildaBridge International is a Philadelphia-based non-profit art education and intervention organisation that engages the transformative power of the arts to bring hope and healing to societies in need.
Aaron: Is there a particular specific issue or theme that you are exploring at length in your art?
CKS: I agree with the Augustinian understanding that man is a spiritual entity. Presently, I am preoccupied with the spiritual dimension of man, informed by the Biblical worldview. Materialism with its utilitarian logic has sought to replace the need for God. But man is made in God’s image — hence there is a relentless existential tension.
I want my art to bring out the ‘spiritual man’ that is rooted in the divine — over and against the unfortunate, blinding, pursuit of material things. I feel an urgency to heighten this spirituality which is unique to the human race; we are caught up in a materialistic-driven environment, and it is imperative therefore both as an artist and a biblically-informed Christian to dwell on this particular subject. Most of today’s critical issues can only be addressed by a renewal of our spiritual consciousness rooted in the Biblical paradigm.
Aaron: Where does this preoccupation fit into your development as an artist so far?
CKS: Only in the past three years or so, I have begun exploring the ‘motif’ which I think will occupy me for the rest of my life. By this I mean that I hope and seek to heighten man’s spirituality through my art. All of life is spiritual and has spiritual values and implications whatever the human situations and conditions. I want my viewers to remember their spiritual ‘rooting’ in the God of the Bible.
As an example, in my self-portrait I painted myself both as a Chinese as well as one rooted in the Adamic lineage. It is both a recognition and a celebrative gesture, spiritually speaking, hence the art work is entitled Adam’s Song. The ongoing ‘fantasy’ series of imaginary islands and rivers speaks of our longing for something beyond mere materialistic needs in the face of our present man-made degradation — we are spiritual beings.
Aaron: Do you see your work as a calling from God, and in what way?
CKS: It is my conviction that I am made in God’s image. Therefore it is axiomatic that this created image should reflect in various degrees the creative attributes of the Creator (as revealed in the Bible). I am not saying this simply because I am a Christian. Back before I received Christ, I had always accepted the notion of God — especially since, as an art student, I had spent a lot of time observing the natural world.
Aaron: What is the biggest spiritual obstacle you face in your art?
CKS: To me, art-making is primarily both a doxological act — a spiritual act of worship — and a ministering act — the sharing of a life. Again, I do not say this because I am a Christian and a pastor. The fact is that I am constantly being reminded about this spiritual reality in the art of Kandinsky, and recently, of Damien Hirst. I would like to point out that author Ben Okri also likened his writings as an act of prayer.
Thus, for me, the biggest spiritual obstacle is maintaining the integrity of my art-making. This is because my motifs (subject matter) come from my meditating on the Bible and my constant reflection upon what I read in contemporary contexts. This is why I make art, and why I always do so with much rejoicing! Moreover, making something meaningful and pleasing in the ‘here and now’ is also a way to anticipate what I believe will be comprehensive artistic opportunities in the ‘post-Consummation Age’. The Biblical prophetic writings, especially in Isaiah, vividly envision God’s re-creation of the new heaven and the new earth. I like to imagine that in that time, artists will be able to create art in the way that creativity is are truly meant to function.Aaron: Are there are any artists who are Christian, who have inspired you?
CKS: Definitely! There’s Giotto, Masaccio, Fra Angelico, Zurbaran, and Barlach, for example. Viewing their works in church settings is both meaningful and inspirational. (Personally, admiring Giotto’s fresco in the Arena Chapel, Padua, is much more enjoyable aesthetically and spiritually speaking than perusing Michelangelo’s in the Sistine Chapel.) Contemporaries like HeQi and Emmanuel Garibay are like beacons that lead the way forward. For me, foremost among them is George Rouault. I aspire to be like him in the way he lived his life — as an authentic (spiritual) human being who sought to fulfil his artistic vocation without the hype that is expected of an artist in our modern-post-modern strictures of ‘high art elitism’.
PS: You may view some of Ps Chong's works at this event
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Movie Review: "Eat Pray Love"/"Agora"
Check out movie review on Eat Pray Love from Damaris:
"The driving force behind the journey in Gilbert's memoir is a pursuit of truth and divinity. 'You sometimes must reach out of [the world's] jurisdiction for help,' she explains, 'appealing to a higher authority in order to find your comfort.'[5] She knows she is lost and, having reached the end of herself, she cries, 'I just want God.'[6] Gilbert's trip may be indulgent, but her search is earnest. In the adaptation, Liz isn't searching for God, she's searching for herself - a pursuit that many critics have deemed narcissistic. Introspection isn't just selfish, however, it's depressing. The film begins as a treatise on individualism, but it gradually slumps into a rom-com because this offers an easier conclusion. In the book, Gilbert grapples with prayer in New York, forgiveness in an Indian ashram and compassion in a Balinese village. The film sees Liz search for the key to her identity at the same far reaches of the world, but - stopping short of spiritual exploration - perhaps she doesn't look far enough."
Bonus: a movie review on Agora - "
Sunday, October 10, 2010
"Christians Don't Believe in Science" and 3 Other Misconceptions
Presented this brief sharing to the Ripples youth group at CDPC Subang today on common misconceptions people have on Christians and Christianity in general. Download the full text here
Christians Dun Believe in Science and 3 Other Common Misconceptions
One day, as I was having a conversation with my secondary school friends, someone asked if I am a Christian. I said, “Yes”. Immediately, he responded by saying, “Oh, in that case, you don’t believe in science.” To my surprise, my friend already has a misconception that Christians don’t believe in science. When you introduce yourself as a Christian, some misconceptions may already have colored his perception of our faith.
Misconception #1: Christians Don’t Believe in Science
a) Famous Christian scientists who contributed to the scientific movement because of their belief in an intelligent Creator who made an orderly world that can be discovered: Copernicus was an astronomer who put forward the first mathematically based system of planets going around the sun, Francis Bacon established scientific method of inquiry through experiment and inductive reasoning, Kepler established the elliptical nature of planetary motion about the sun, Isaac Newton discovered the law of gravity etc.
b) The problem is not with the Bible but with some people’s misinterpretation of the Bible. i.e. Even today we say, “The sun rises in the east” (as it appears to our eyes) even though we know it is scientifically inaccurate. Others mistook a non-biblical popular view (i.e. earth is center of solar system) for what the Bible teaches when it doesn’t teach so.
c) Sometimes some Christians may be careful of accepting a certain ‘scientific’ view not because of their faith but because of the lack of scientific evidence to support this view. But when we do real discoveries of the world, our body and the animals, we are finding out more about how God has designed the universe that reflect His wisdom and power. It motivates us to be better scientists.
Misconception#2: Christians are judgmental! Who are you to judge others?
Who are you to judge his or her lifestyle is wrong? Live and let live! Nowadays, you are forbidden to forbid. No one has the right to judge my own values and lifestyles. It’s my life. On the other extreme, there are people who are critical, resentful and narrow who loves to judge people to make themselves look more important. Jesus was speaking to both groups when He said, “Do not judge or you will be judged” (Matt 7).
Jesus is not saying we should not discern right from wrong or never point out wrong practice/beliefs in others for the sake of unity and tolerance. We are called to make good judgments about false prophets etc (Matt 7:6, 15, 21-23).
What He meant was we should not judge like the Pharisees who judged the wrong things (wrong to heal on Sabbath?) or make right judgments for the wrong reasons. They had a ‘holier than thou” superiority rather than humility. Instead of removing the plank in their own eye, they want to remove the speck of dust in others’ eyes. We need to deal with ourselves first, we will see clearly to help others. We do not claim perfection or superior than others. But we are commanded to know God’s word in order to find out what God wants us to believe and how He wants us to live. Discernment determines our destiny.
Misconception#3: Christians are so intolerant. They always force you to believe what they believe.
We need to be winsome, gentle and respectful when sharing the gospel with our friends. There are two dangers of just stopping to evangelize because we don’t want to offend our friends and to be over zealous in being too pushy when people are not yet ready. Very often, our role as witnesses is to ask them questions, drop hints and be like a guide on a journey to a wonderful new country.
But another cause of this misconception is due to our friends’ belief that all religions are valid paths to God. What they really mean is, “Yes, yes, yes… Jesus is the way to God, but there are other ways to get there too. So why insist everyone else to follow Jesus? All roads lead to Rome.” But if you come to think about it for just a minute, actually not all roads lead to Rome. You can’t drive to Rome using Jalan Puchong or Old Klang Road or Federal Highway. You just can’t pay the toll at LDP and get to Rome. Not all roads lead to Rome.
Jesus did not claim to be just one of many ways to God. He says: “I am the way; no one comes to God but by me.” That’s quite a big claim to make. A man who makes a claim to be the only way to God cannot be just another religious guru. He is either a mad man, a bad man or He is really who He claims to be. Jesus did not leave us the option of regarding him as just another wise human teacher. Great human teachers point to the truth, but they don't claim to be the truth. And yet, here we are confronted with the unique claim of Jesus to be the way, the truth and the life.
This is something that many people find hard to accept. In one of our family conversations about Christianity, my dear relatives told me, “How can you Christians believe that Jesus is the only way? That’s too narrow and exclusive. All religions are lead to God. We are like the ten blind men trying to describe an elephant. One guy touched its trunk and said “The elephant is like a snake”. Another touched its body and said, “No, it’s like a wall”. Yet another touched its leg and think it’s like a tree. As they argued amongst themselves, the King walked by and set them straight, “All of you only got part of the truth. The elephant is a huge animal and each of you touched only a part!”
At first, the story appears to be very humble and inclusive: The truth is greater than any one of us can understand. But the only way you can know that all religions have only part of the truth is if you have the whole truth. The only way you could know that none of the blind men have the whole truth is if you can see the elephant. The only way you can tell this story is if you are the King who sees everything. There is an appearance of humility but actually there is a hidden, almost arrogant assumption that the storyteller has a knowledge that is superior to all others. But how did he get this knowledge? How can he see when everyone else is blind? If I am blind and you are blind, then how can you possibly know what the elephant is really like? You see, the problem with this story is it is actually making a very exclusive statement that no one else got it all correct except himself.
And the funny thing is: the story also contains an important truth. Because the only Person who can see everything and know the complete truth is the King… It’s God Himself. No one else can do that. Like blind men, we humans are all limited and sinful creatures who can only see part of reality. There is nothing we can boast about because we are blind like everyone else groping in the dark. We won’t know what the truth is like unless… unless the King has spoken. Unless the King who knows everything reveals Himself to us and corrects our mistakes. And guess what? That is exactly what the gospel is all about. God has already revealed Himself in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. “I once was blind but now I see…” because God has revealed Himself to us. The only way we can know the truth is because He has made Himself known in Christ. He is not just one of many ways or one of many gods. Jesus is the way so let us walk in Him with confidence.
Misconception#4: Christianity is just a crutch for weak people
People need to believe in God because of psychological weakness, unable to cope with life, the desperate need for a father figure or emotional need for comfort or to overcome fear of unknowns.
a) We all need a crutch. In a sense, all of us are crippled (needy sinners) so we need a crutch to help us. So it’s a matter of whether we see our real needs and get help; or we ignore our needs and unable to walk properly.
b) People are often attracted to imagine up a religion for emotional needs – find comfort ad consolation even in self-made beliefs. That’s true. The Bible condemns this practice as idolatry – making substitutes of God who alone can meet our needs.
c) But emotional and psychological needs may also cause us to reject God too. Belief in an all powerful, all holy and all knowing God can be scary and uncomfortable to sinners too. So rejecting belief in God can also be a crutch for psychologically ‘weak’ people to run away from their fear of a Judge so they can live however they like. If we want a comfortable religion, we will not invent an awesome, holy and ‘traumatic’ God like the biblical God.
Christians Dun Believe in Science and 3 Other Common Misconceptions
One day, as I was having a conversation with my secondary school friends, someone asked if I am a Christian. I said, “Yes”. Immediately, he responded by saying, “Oh, in that case, you don’t believe in science.” To my surprise, my friend already has a misconception that Christians don’t believe in science. When you introduce yourself as a Christian, some misconceptions may already have colored his perception of our faith.
Misconception #1: Christians Don’t Believe in Science
a) Famous Christian scientists who contributed to the scientific movement because of their belief in an intelligent Creator who made an orderly world that can be discovered: Copernicus was an astronomer who put forward the first mathematically based system of planets going around the sun, Francis Bacon established scientific method of inquiry through experiment and inductive reasoning, Kepler established the elliptical nature of planetary motion about the sun, Isaac Newton discovered the law of gravity etc.
b) The problem is not with the Bible but with some people’s misinterpretation of the Bible. i.e. Even today we say, “The sun rises in the east” (as it appears to our eyes) even though we know it is scientifically inaccurate. Others mistook a non-biblical popular view (i.e. earth is center of solar system) for what the Bible teaches when it doesn’t teach so.
c) Sometimes some Christians may be careful of accepting a certain ‘scientific’ view not because of their faith but because of the lack of scientific evidence to support this view. But when we do real discoveries of the world, our body and the animals, we are finding out more about how God has designed the universe that reflect His wisdom and power. It motivates us to be better scientists.
Misconception#2: Christians are judgmental! Who are you to judge others?
Who are you to judge his or her lifestyle is wrong? Live and let live! Nowadays, you are forbidden to forbid. No one has the right to judge my own values and lifestyles. It’s my life. On the other extreme, there are people who are critical, resentful and narrow who loves to judge people to make themselves look more important. Jesus was speaking to both groups when He said, “Do not judge or you will be judged” (Matt 7).
Jesus is not saying we should not discern right from wrong or never point out wrong practice/beliefs in others for the sake of unity and tolerance. We are called to make good judgments about false prophets etc (Matt 7:6, 15, 21-23).
What He meant was we should not judge like the Pharisees who judged the wrong things (wrong to heal on Sabbath?) or make right judgments for the wrong reasons. They had a ‘holier than thou” superiority rather than humility. Instead of removing the plank in their own eye, they want to remove the speck of dust in others’ eyes. We need to deal with ourselves first, we will see clearly to help others. We do not claim perfection or superior than others. But we are commanded to know God’s word in order to find out what God wants us to believe and how He wants us to live. Discernment determines our destiny.
Misconception#3: Christians are so intolerant. They always force you to believe what they believe.
We need to be winsome, gentle and respectful when sharing the gospel with our friends. There are two dangers of just stopping to evangelize because we don’t want to offend our friends and to be over zealous in being too pushy when people are not yet ready. Very often, our role as witnesses is to ask them questions, drop hints and be like a guide on a journey to a wonderful new country.
But another cause of this misconception is due to our friends’ belief that all religions are valid paths to God. What they really mean is, “Yes, yes, yes… Jesus is the way to God, but there are other ways to get there too. So why insist everyone else to follow Jesus? All roads lead to Rome.” But if you come to think about it for just a minute, actually not all roads lead to Rome. You can’t drive to Rome using Jalan Puchong or Old Klang Road or Federal Highway. You just can’t pay the toll at LDP and get to Rome. Not all roads lead to Rome.
Jesus did not claim to be just one of many ways to God. He says: “I am the way; no one comes to God but by me.” That’s quite a big claim to make. A man who makes a claim to be the only way to God cannot be just another religious guru. He is either a mad man, a bad man or He is really who He claims to be. Jesus did not leave us the option of regarding him as just another wise human teacher. Great human teachers point to the truth, but they don't claim to be the truth. And yet, here we are confronted with the unique claim of Jesus to be the way, the truth and the life.
This is something that many people find hard to accept. In one of our family conversations about Christianity, my dear relatives told me, “How can you Christians believe that Jesus is the only way? That’s too narrow and exclusive. All religions are lead to God. We are like the ten blind men trying to describe an elephant. One guy touched its trunk and said “The elephant is like a snake”. Another touched its body and said, “No, it’s like a wall”. Yet another touched its leg and think it’s like a tree. As they argued amongst themselves, the King walked by and set them straight, “All of you only got part of the truth. The elephant is a huge animal and each of you touched only a part!”
At first, the story appears to be very humble and inclusive: The truth is greater than any one of us can understand. But the only way you can know that all religions have only part of the truth is if you have the whole truth. The only way you could know that none of the blind men have the whole truth is if you can see the elephant. The only way you can tell this story is if you are the King who sees everything. There is an appearance of humility but actually there is a hidden, almost arrogant assumption that the storyteller has a knowledge that is superior to all others. But how did he get this knowledge? How can he see when everyone else is blind? If I am blind and you are blind, then how can you possibly know what the elephant is really like? You see, the problem with this story is it is actually making a very exclusive statement that no one else got it all correct except himself.
And the funny thing is: the story also contains an important truth. Because the only Person who can see everything and know the complete truth is the King… It’s God Himself. No one else can do that. Like blind men, we humans are all limited and sinful creatures who can only see part of reality. There is nothing we can boast about because we are blind like everyone else groping in the dark. We won’t know what the truth is like unless… unless the King has spoken. Unless the King who knows everything reveals Himself to us and corrects our mistakes. And guess what? That is exactly what the gospel is all about. God has already revealed Himself in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. “I once was blind but now I see…” because God has revealed Himself to us. The only way we can know the truth is because He has made Himself known in Christ. He is not just one of many ways or one of many gods. Jesus is the way so let us walk in Him with confidence.
Misconception#4: Christianity is just a crutch for weak people
People need to believe in God because of psychological weakness, unable to cope with life, the desperate need for a father figure or emotional need for comfort or to overcome fear of unknowns.
a) We all need a crutch. In a sense, all of us are crippled (needy sinners) so we need a crutch to help us. So it’s a matter of whether we see our real needs and get help; or we ignore our needs and unable to walk properly.
b) People are often attracted to imagine up a religion for emotional needs – find comfort ad consolation even in self-made beliefs. That’s true. The Bible condemns this practice as idolatry – making substitutes of God who alone can meet our needs.
c) But emotional and psychological needs may also cause us to reject God too. Belief in an all powerful, all holy and all knowing God can be scary and uncomfortable to sinners too. So rejecting belief in God can also be a crutch for psychologically ‘weak’ people to run away from their fear of a Judge so they can live however they like. If we want a comfortable religion, we will not invent an awesome, holy and ‘traumatic’ God like the biblical God.
How Christians Successfully Recover The Bible Text
The latest edition of Kairos magazine: "Rediscovering the Whole Bible" is out! There is an article addressing how Christians can be confident that the Bible we read today accurately reflects the original writings and how to choose an English translation of the Bible:
Have you ever played the Telephone Game? It’s an all-time favorite ice breaker where the first player thinks up a phrase and whispers it to his immediate neighbor. And the message gets passed on quietly to the next person until it reaches the last player who in turn shouts it out loud.
In a ‘successful’ game, the final message would bear so little resemblance to the original statement that everyone breaks out in laughter.
Despite their best attempts, mistakes easily creep in somewhere down the line and distort the entire message.
If communication is such a precarious business, how can we know that the Bible we read today accurately reflect the original writings of the authors?
The original manuscripts were lost in the sands of time. All we have were copies of the original. But people make mistakes. Errors accumulate with each successive copy.
In a few hundred years, who could tell how much of the original message was left intact? Just like in the Telephone Game.
Compound that with the fact that the Bible was not written in English. Not even King James English.
Most of the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew (a few passages were in Aramaic) while the entire New Testament was composed in Greek. That means that for most of us, the message of the Bible needs to be translated into a language we can read and understand.
But why are there so many different English versions of the Bible? How much confidence could we have in the accuracy of these translations?
Recovering Lost Lecture Notes
Unlike the telephone game, however, the biblical text was passed down to us in written form. Writings can be tested and less susceptible to distortions compared to oral whispers. In the ice breaker, communication is limited as “one-to-one” with everyone lined up in single file. But the Apostle Paul’s letters can be transmitted via multiple copies, which in turn duplicated into more numerous copies. Its transmission was non-linear.
The fact is that historians can confidently reconstruct what an ancient manuscript says from existing copies even though they may contain differences.
Here is an analogy of how it works.
During secondary school, I had an Economics teacher whose teaching style seems to have missed the invention of the photocopy machine. Mrs. Lee would write her lengthy lecture notes on the whiteboard while the students furiously copy them down before she could wipe them off.
Suppose that the entire class was hit by a flu bug on the crucial day that Mrs. Lee handed out her much-anticipated “spot questions and sample answers” before the exams. Only three students managed to attend the class and copy them down on their notepads. Pitying their sick friends, each of them lent their notes to ten of their classmates who in turn made more hand-written copies.
Since I had missed the class, the original copy on the whiteboard was lost forever. With exams only a week away, I anxiously tried to contact Mrs. Lee and the three students who made those copies. But for some mysterious reasons, they were also down with flu and quarantined for a week. In a state of panic, I rounded up all the remaining classmates and spread out thirty hand-written copies on the floor to recover the original wordings.
Immediately I can detect some differences. Ten copies have a misspelled word (“inflaxion” instead of “inflation”). Five copies had wrongly ordered phrases (“buy high, sell low” instead of “buy low, sell high”). And one copy contains an entire paragraph not found in any of the others.
Do you think I can accurately reconstruct Mrs. Lee’s original lecture notes based on these different copies?
Sure, I can. Misspellings can be easily spotted, mixed-up phrases can be corrected and it is more likely that an extra paragraph was added to one copy than for it to be omitted from twenty nine copies.
Authentic Text: How Many? How Early?
In simplified form, that is how the science of textual criticism works. Even with more numerous and complicated errors, historians can still recover an ancient document depending on two factors:
1) How many surviving copies do we have to compare and test? The more manuscripts we have, the easier it is to detect differences.
2) What is the time gap between the oldest surviving copies and the writing of the original? The closer to the original, the more confidence we have in the manuscripts.
First let us look at the statistics for non-biblical texts:
Caesar's The Gallic Wars has 10 surviving manuscripts with the earliest copy dating to 1,000 years after the original writing; Thucydides' History (8 manuscripts; 1,300 years elapsed); Herodotus' History (8 manuscripts; 1,350 years elapsed) and Tacitus' Annals (20 manuscripts; 1,000 years). The best preserved of ancient non-biblical writings is Homer’s Iliad with about 650 surviving copies (500 years elapsed).
In comparison, there are approximately 5,500 Greek existing manuscripts that contain all or part of the New Testament! The New Testament was written from about A.D. 50 to A.D. 90. Two major manuscripts, Codex Vaticanus (A.D. 325) and Codex Sinaiticus (A.D. 350) date within 250 years of the time of composition. Most fascinating of all, the earliest fragment of a small portion of John’s Gospel dates about A.D. 120 with other important fragments dating within 150-200 years from the time of composition.
On both counts, the manuscript evidence for the biblical texts overwhelmingly surpassed those of other ancient documents. If skeptics dismiss the Bible as unreliable, then they must also dismiss the reliability of virtually everything we learn from ancient documents.
Even if all of these precious biblical manuscripts were somehow lost, we could still reconstruct the entire New Testament from quotations of Scripture found in ancient catechisms, lectionaries and writings of the church fathers. As the gospel spread further by the end of the 2nd century A.D., New Testament translations were made into Latin, Coptic, Syriac, Armenian and other languages. These early versions (more than 18,000 surviving copies) provide valuable resources for scholars to cross-check the original Greek wordings.
Sir Frederic Kenyon, former director of the British Museum and foremost authority on the subject, wrote:
"The interval between the dates of the original composition (of the New Testament) and the earliest extant evidence becomes so small as to be in fact negligible, and the last foundation for any doubt that the Scriptures have come down to us substantially as they were written has now been removed. Both the authenticity and the general integrity of the books of the New Testament may be regarded as finally established."
Found In Translation
Now, what about the accuracy of the English Bible translations? Even a brief visit to the nearest Christian bookstore would yield a bewildering variety of Bible versions available today.
How shall we even begin to decide on picking one for our personal use?
For almost three hundred years, the King James Version (completed in 1611) was the most widely accepted translation for English-speaking Protestants. Its lofty language had a profound influence on literature and history. However, modern readers began to find its archaic words hard to understand, thus providing impetus for the explosive growth of Bible translations.
Another important reason for fresh translations came about as archaeologists discovered more and older copies of the biblical text (i.e. the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Codex Sinaiticus). As we saw earlier, such a wealth of manuscript evidence enables us to get even closer to the original writings.
Thirdly, the proliferation of English versions resulted from different translation approaches adopted by the translators. Do they aim for an essentially literal word-for-word translation? Or is their goal a thought-for-thought translation that seeks to get the idea across instead? Or is it a free paraphrase like Eugene Peterson’s The Message? Although all translators need to balance readability and faithfulness to the original text, Bible versions differ in how each of these objectives is emphasized.
For the most accurate access to the biblical text, a modern translation that benefits from the best available manuscripts and adopts a ‘word-for-word’ approach that seeks to retain the words that the biblical authors wrote would be a preferred choice. A paraphrased version can provide an interesting read but when it comes to serious study of God’s inspired word, we need a translation that is as close to the original as possible.
Avoid translations made by a single person for it would leave us at the mercy of his or her own private interpretation. Most important translations are done by committees where its members can check on each other.
Choose a readable translation written in contemporary vernacular. You may also find certain Bible study tools like maps, study notes, cross-references and concordances helpful.
Lastly, it may be a good idea to try out a few translations before making your choice. When you come across a difficult verse, read it in several versions and observe the differences. You may also find online resources like Biblegateway.com convenient and inexpensive for this purpose.
In a ‘successful’ game, the final message would bear so little resemblance to the original statement that everyone breaks out in laughter.
Despite their best attempts, mistakes easily creep in somewhere down the line and distort the entire message.
If communication is such a precarious business, how can we know that the Bible we read today accurately reflect the original writings of the authors?
The original manuscripts were lost in the sands of time. All we have were copies of the original. But people make mistakes. Errors accumulate with each successive copy.
In a few hundred years, who could tell how much of the original message was left intact? Just like in the Telephone Game.
Compound that with the fact that the Bible was not written in English. Not even King James English.
Most of the Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew (a few passages were in Aramaic) while the entire New Testament was composed in Greek. That means that for most of us, the message of the Bible needs to be translated into a language we can read and understand.
But why are there so many different English versions of the Bible? How much confidence could we have in the accuracy of these translations?
Recovering Lost Lecture Notes
Unlike the telephone game, however, the biblical text was passed down to us in written form. Writings can be tested and less susceptible to distortions compared to oral whispers. In the ice breaker, communication is limited as “one-to-one” with everyone lined up in single file. But the Apostle Paul’s letters can be transmitted via multiple copies, which in turn duplicated into more numerous copies. Its transmission was non-linear.
The fact is that historians can confidently reconstruct what an ancient manuscript says from existing copies even though they may contain differences.
Here is an analogy of how it works.
During secondary school, I had an Economics teacher whose teaching style seems to have missed the invention of the photocopy machine. Mrs. Lee would write her lengthy lecture notes on the whiteboard while the students furiously copy them down before she could wipe them off.
Suppose that the entire class was hit by a flu bug on the crucial day that Mrs. Lee handed out her much-anticipated “spot questions and sample answers” before the exams. Only three students managed to attend the class and copy them down on their notepads. Pitying their sick friends, each of them lent their notes to ten of their classmates who in turn made more hand-written copies.
Since I had missed the class, the original copy on the whiteboard was lost forever. With exams only a week away, I anxiously tried to contact Mrs. Lee and the three students who made those copies. But for some mysterious reasons, they were also down with flu and quarantined for a week. In a state of panic, I rounded up all the remaining classmates and spread out thirty hand-written copies on the floor to recover the original wordings.
Immediately I can detect some differences. Ten copies have a misspelled word (“inflaxion” instead of “inflation”). Five copies had wrongly ordered phrases (“buy high, sell low” instead of “buy low, sell high”). And one copy contains an entire paragraph not found in any of the others.
Do you think I can accurately reconstruct Mrs. Lee’s original lecture notes based on these different copies?
Sure, I can. Misspellings can be easily spotted, mixed-up phrases can be corrected and it is more likely that an extra paragraph was added to one copy than for it to be omitted from twenty nine copies.
Authentic Text: How Many? How Early?
In simplified form, that is how the science of textual criticism works. Even with more numerous and complicated errors, historians can still recover an ancient document depending on two factors:
1) How many surviving copies do we have to compare and test? The more manuscripts we have, the easier it is to detect differences.
2) What is the time gap between the oldest surviving copies and the writing of the original? The closer to the original, the more confidence we have in the manuscripts.
First let us look at the statistics for non-biblical texts:
Caesar's The Gallic Wars has 10 surviving manuscripts with the earliest copy dating to 1,000 years after the original writing; Thucydides' History (8 manuscripts; 1,300 years elapsed); Herodotus' History (8 manuscripts; 1,350 years elapsed) and Tacitus' Annals (20 manuscripts; 1,000 years). The best preserved of ancient non-biblical writings is Homer’s Iliad with about 650 surviving copies (500 years elapsed).
In comparison, there are approximately 5,500 Greek existing manuscripts that contain all or part of the New Testament! The New Testament was written from about A.D. 50 to A.D. 90. Two major manuscripts, Codex Vaticanus (A.D. 325) and Codex Sinaiticus (A.D. 350) date within 250 years of the time of composition. Most fascinating of all, the earliest fragment of a small portion of John’s Gospel dates about A.D. 120 with other important fragments dating within 150-200 years from the time of composition.
On both counts, the manuscript evidence for the biblical texts overwhelmingly surpassed those of other ancient documents. If skeptics dismiss the Bible as unreliable, then they must also dismiss the reliability of virtually everything we learn from ancient documents.
Even if all of these precious biblical manuscripts were somehow lost, we could still reconstruct the entire New Testament from quotations of Scripture found in ancient catechisms, lectionaries and writings of the church fathers. As the gospel spread further by the end of the 2nd century A.D., New Testament translations were made into Latin, Coptic, Syriac, Armenian and other languages. These early versions (more than 18,000 surviving copies) provide valuable resources for scholars to cross-check the original Greek wordings.
Sir Frederic Kenyon, former director of the British Museum and foremost authority on the subject, wrote:
"The interval between the dates of the original composition (of the New Testament) and the earliest extant evidence becomes so small as to be in fact negligible, and the last foundation for any doubt that the Scriptures have come down to us substantially as they were written has now been removed. Both the authenticity and the general integrity of the books of the New Testament may be regarded as finally established."
Found In Translation
Now, what about the accuracy of the English Bible translations? Even a brief visit to the nearest Christian bookstore would yield a bewildering variety of Bible versions available today.
How shall we even begin to decide on picking one for our personal use?
For almost three hundred years, the King James Version (completed in 1611) was the most widely accepted translation for English-speaking Protestants. Its lofty language had a profound influence on literature and history. However, modern readers began to find its archaic words hard to understand, thus providing impetus for the explosive growth of Bible translations.
Another important reason for fresh translations came about as archaeologists discovered more and older copies of the biblical text (i.e. the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Codex Sinaiticus). As we saw earlier, such a wealth of manuscript evidence enables us to get even closer to the original writings.
Thirdly, the proliferation of English versions resulted from different translation approaches adopted by the translators. Do they aim for an essentially literal word-for-word translation? Or is their goal a thought-for-thought translation that seeks to get the idea across instead? Or is it a free paraphrase like Eugene Peterson’s The Message? Although all translators need to balance readability and faithfulness to the original text, Bible versions differ in how each of these objectives is emphasized.
For the most accurate access to the biblical text, a modern translation that benefits from the best available manuscripts and adopts a ‘word-for-word’ approach that seeks to retain the words that the biblical authors wrote would be a preferred choice. A paraphrased version can provide an interesting read but when it comes to serious study of God’s inspired word, we need a translation that is as close to the original as possible.
Avoid translations made by a single person for it would leave us at the mercy of his or her own private interpretation. Most important translations are done by committees where its members can check on each other.
Choose a readable translation written in contemporary vernacular. You may also find certain Bible study tools like maps, study notes, cross-references and concordances helpful.
Lastly, it may be a good idea to try out a few translations before making your choice. When you come across a difficult verse, read it in several versions and observe the differences. You may also find online resources like Biblegateway.com convenient and inexpensive for this purpose.
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Spiritual Formation Seminar in PJEFC
Saturday, Oct 9, 2010, at PJEFC.
Time: 9.30am-4.30pm
Venue: Petaling Jaya Evangelical Free Church
Registration Fee (incl refreshment, lunch and notes): RM20
| address | Petaling Jaya Evangelical Free Church Heritage Centre No. 3, Jalan 13/6 46200 Petaling Jaya |
| phone | +60 (3) 7957 4341 |
| fax | +60 (3) 7957 4560 |
| map | please click here to download a printable A4 copy of the map |
Saturday, October 02, 2010
Malaysia International Christian Artists Show (MICAS) 2010
Celebrating 2000 years of Christian art heritage, MICAS 2010 will be launched on the 6th Nov. (Saturday) @5pm at Galeri Dunia Seni Lukis in Kuala Lumpur.
A paper on Christ Alive in Culture will be presented by Dr Rev Rod Pattenden on the 7th Nov (Sunday) at the gallery hall. There will also be special art related workshops for those interested to attend.
Those interested may contact Pastor Kengsen at keng_sen@hotmail.com
-260910.jpg)
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A paper on Christ Alive in Culture will be presented by Dr Rev Rod Pattenden on the 7th Nov (Sunday) at the gallery hall. There will also be special art related workshops for those interested to attend.
Those interested may contact Pastor Kengsen at keng_sen@hotmail.com
-260910.jpg)
260910.jpg)
Sunday, September 05, 2010
Sermon: Rojak Spirituality
Rojak Spirituality Sermon
Malaysians are spoilt for choice when it comes to food. Imagine walking into a giant food court where you can find Penang Laksa, Ipoh beansprout chicken, Indian curry, Iranian kebab, Nasi Padang, Western grilled steak, Hong Kong dim sum – almost everything else you can think of under the same roof. You can choose to eat anything you want. You can mix it up – eat a bit of sushi for appetizer, then chicken rice for main course and finish with rojak for dessert. How about that? Are you feeling hungry already?
But for a lot of people, making choices about spirituality or religion is also like eating in a food court. It’s all up to your personal tastes or preference. Some like it hot, others like it cold. It can also be a bit like ‘rojak’ – you just mix up all the ingredients and hopefully it tastes good. “Oh, I like my religion with a pinch of Buddhism, a sprinkle of Christianity, two cups of Lillian Too feng shui and a glass of Hinduism – shaken, not stirred.” What’s your personal religious preference?
So… in today’s society, for someone to even claim that a certain religious practice is wrong or that some religious beliefs are untrue, that would sound arrogant and intolerant. It just doesn’t make sense. It’s as if someone say to you, “You are wrong to choose nasi lemak for lunch today” or “You are a bad person if you chose to eat “char koay teow”. You should have chosen Maggi goreng.” That sounds so intolerant (it doesn’t make sense) because we live in a time of “rojak spirituality”. People choose their faith or spirituality or religion based on personal taste or preferences. You like chocolate ice cream, I like strawberry flavor. You like Islam, I like Christianity, she likes Buddhism. It’s based on what we like. There is no right or wrong answer here.
But truth or reality is not like ice cream. It is more like insulin. When my wife Grace was pregnant with Zhen, she was found to have gestational diabetes. Maybe due to hormonal imbalance, her body does not produce enough insulin to break down sugar in her blood. So what did she need to do? Almost everyday she has to give herself an insulin injection to maintain her health. And she cannot say, “I don’t feel like taking insulin anymore. Let’s see… I think I would prefer to take ice cream instead”. If she stopped taking insulin and choose ice cream, it would be very bad for her health and for the baby. In the same way, we are all sin-sick people in need of a cure that is the gospel. We don’t get to decide what is true based on our subjective tastes. That’s make-believe. Reality is like a solid rock. Just because we don’t like it doesn’t make it false. Just because we like something doesn’t make it true either. When it comes to spirituality or faith, the reason we ought to believe something is because it is true… Truth is like insulin to someone who suffers from diabetes, it’s not ice cream.
And in the passage of Scripture we read just now, Jesus was about to go to the cross. It was just before the Passover feast. He knew His time was near. He had lived the life that we should have lived and now He would face the death that we should have died. He came from God and He was going back to God. He was about to accomplish His mission in the world and return to the Father. So he was having his last meal together with his disciples. But his disciples were worried – “Who is going to betray Jesus? The Master is leaving us but where is He going?”
So Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled; Trust in God, trust also in Me. In my Father's house are many rooms; I am going there to prepare a place for you. I will come back and take you with me. You know the way to the place where I am going."
One of the disciples Thomas asked him: “But Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how do we know the way?” And then Jesus replied with this famous statement: “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me.” Great teachers point us to the truth, but they don't claim to BE the truth. Jesus, however, makes this amazing claim about himself – I am the way, the truth and the life.
So today I’d like to consider THREE implications of Jesus’ unique claim for us, Malaysian Christians, living in a multi-religious, multi-cultural society such as ours:
1st implication: Jesus is the way so walk in Him with confidence.
Some years back, I met a church leader who believed that all religions are valid paths to God. He told me, “Yes, yes, yes… Jesus is the way to God, but there are other ways to get there too.” All roads lead to Rome. But if you come to think about it for just a minute, actually not all roads lead to Rome. You can’t drive to Rome using Jalan Puchong or Old Klang Road or Federal Highway. You just can’t pay the toll at LDP and get to Rome. Not all roads lead to Rome.
Jesus did not claim to be just one of many ways to God. He says: “I am the way; no one comes to God but by me.” That’s quite a big claim to make. A man who makes a claim to be the only way to God cannot be just another religious guru. He is either a mad man, a bad man or He is really who He claims to be. Jesus did not leave us the option of regarding him as just another wise human teacher. Great human teachers point to the truth, but they don't claim to be the truth. And yet, here we are confronted with the unique claim of Jesus to be the way, the truth and the life.
This is something that many people find hard to accept. In one of our family conversations about Christianity, my dear relatives told me, “How can you Christians believe that Jesus is the only way? That’s too narrow and exclusive. All religions are lead to God. We are like the ten blind men trying to describe an elephant. One guy touched its trunk and said “The elephant is like a snake”. Another touched its body and said, “No, it’s like a wall”. Yet another touched its leg and think it’s like a tree. As they argued amongst themselves, the King walked by and set them straight, “All of you only got part of the truth. The elephant is a huge animal and each of you touched only a part!”
At first, the story appears to be very humble and inclusive: The truth is greater than any one of us can understand. But the only way you can know that all religions have only part of the truth is if you have the whole truth. The only way you could know that none of the blind men have the whole truth is if you can see the elephant. The only way you can tell this story is if you are the King who sees everything. There is an appearance of humility but actually there is a hidden, almost arrogant assumption that the storyteller has a knowledge that is superior to all others. But how did he get this knowledge? How can he see when everyone else is blind? If I am blind and you are blind, then how can you possibly know what the elephant is really like? You see, the problem with this story is it is actually making a very exclusive statement that no one else got it all correct except himself.
And the funny thing is: the story also contains an important truth. Because the only Person who can see everything and know the complete truth is the King… It’s God Himself. No one else can do that. Like blind men, we humans are all limited and sinful creatures who can only see part of reality. There is nothing we can boast about because we are blind like everyone else groping in the dark. We won’t know what the truth is like unless… unless the King has spoken. Unless the King who knows everything reveals Himself to us and corrects our mistakes. And guess what? That is exactly what the gospel is all about. God has already revealed Himself in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. “I once was blind but now I see…” because God has revealed Himself to us. The only way we can know the truth is because He has made Himself known in Christ. He is not just one of many ways or one of many gods. Jesus is the way so let us walk in Him with confidence.
2nd implication: Jesus is the truth so proclaim Him with humility
A few months ago, the Singapore Internal Security Department called up a church leader, Pastor Tan (not to be confused with our own Pastor Tan), after receiving complaints about two video clips he had posted on his church website that showed him making "insensitive comments about Buddhism." The Ministry of Home Affairs said that his remarks were "highly inappropriate and unacceptable as they trivialised and insulted the beliefs of Buddhists and Taoists." The pastor has since removed the video clips from the website and he apologized to the Buddhist and Taoist communities, promising that such incidents would not happen again. This could easily happen in Malaysia as well and it shows the need for Christians to rethink how we relate to people of other faiths. Do we ever catch ourselves making inaccurate, insensitive or insulting jokes about other religious beliefs or practices?
Indeed, we need to share the truth of the gospel faithfully, without watering down the gospel. But we also need to speak the truth in love, gentleness and humility. We need to respect and honor those who have yet to know Christ as persons who were made in God’s image. They have the right to believe, practice and propagate their faiths even if they don’t agree with us. We should celebrate and not begrudge the fact that people of different religions are capable of great moral integrity and profound wisdom too. When we see what is good, true and beautiful being taught by others, we can thank God that in spite of our sinful natures, this is still possible because of the common humanity we share with them. Although tainted by sin, the image of God in fallen people can still produce something good, true and beautiful. And we can use these common grounds (our shared humanity) as a bridge to dialogue with others and communicate the gospel that only in Christ would the truth, the beauty and the goodness that we all cherish make any sense at all. A missionary in Indonesia Martin Goldsmith wrote, “Sin and the remnant image of God interact both in cultures and religions. So we dare not dismiss all cultures and religions as merely demonic, evil or totally false.” Instead, there is every reason for Christians to listen to our non-Christian neighbors and humbly learn what they believe about God, about life, about truth and about salvation. Seek first to understand then be understood.
Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of speaking to a mixed group of medical students at an interfaith dialogue. It was something I have always wanted to do. The topic was on the Purpose of Life. A Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Christian speaker was each given 15 minutes to present their views followed by questions and answers from the students. I felt it was a fruitful time as I learn from the other speakers and students. Interestingly, I also get to (legally and openly) share the gospel in front of a few dozen Muslim students. Open conversation and evangelism should not be seen as mutually exclusive. Instead, gospel witness invites dialogues and questions. And having meaningful dialogue with our neighbors expands and deepens our gospel witness. On a more personal level, interfaith conversations like that can happen at the mamak stall, kopitiam, cafeteria or anywhere. And I’m so glad that some of us in CDPC Puchong organized a visit to the Shah Alam mosque with a team from our partner churches in America. We went there to dialogue with the imam, to learn and ask questions about Islam. You see, this is the kind of dialogue, truth encounter and mutual understanding needed not only for our American mission team, but especially for our Malaysian youths as well. It would be tragic if we spend our whole lives growing up in Malaysia but never know anything about what our neighbors really believe or what worship means to them just down the road.
But for some Malaysians, interfaith dialogues like that are strictly forbidden and feared. There are loud voices in our society that say: “Only my religion is true, so how can I sit side by side with these other religions? What’s there to dialogue about? Interfaith dialogues will threaten and confuse our faith. No way! ”
But as a Christian, I have a different take on this. I don’t want to shut myself out from mutual learning because that only shows that we are not confident in what we believe. If we know what we believe is true and why we believe the things we believe then we can be confident that the truth will withstand any test. And the truth will be shown to be true no matter what others may say. The truth does not need to fear falsehood. Light is not threatened by darkness. Just the presence of light dispels darkness.
So there is no place for arrogance or insensitive jokes when it comes to speaking the truth. If people want to reject the gospel, let them do so because they refuse to accept the claims of the gospel, and not because they are turned off by our offensive or insensitive behavior. The truth is not an abstract list of dos-and-don’ts or a religious experience. The truth is personal and historical. Jesus is the truth so let us proclaim Him with humility, gentleness and respect.
The last implication: Jesus is the life so live with grace for others
There is a good reason why the idea that all religions are equally valid or “rojak spirituality” (as I call it) is so popular today. In a global village where we live so close to each other, people want to avoid religious violence and conflicts. After the September 11 attack, the ‘war on terror’ or closer to home, the cow-head incident in Shah Alam and the pig-head incidents at Old Klang Road, the world is desperately looking for ways in which different religious groups can live in peace, harmony and tolerance. That is a very noble and sincere motivation that we all share. But the thinking goes like this: “If you claim to have the truth and others don’t, that will lead to conflict and oppression. You will look down on others, right? My faith is better than yours. The followers of my religion are more holy than yours. You unclean people cannot come inside my place of worship.”
We know only too well how religion can be used by some politicians to divide, exclude and control people, don’t we? Recently there was a controversy in Penang about whether Muslims can pray for their non-Muslim leaders in the mosque. And there was another hoo-haa in Selayang over non-believers stepping into a mosque. For some, that’s strictly forbidden. You can’t even pray for those who don’t share your faith.
So wouldn’t it be nice if everybody thinks all religions are the same, then there is nothing to fight about rite? Sounds nice, but only if everybody in the world thinks like that… The problem is: You can have peace if and only if followers of all faiths play down their own beliefs and exclusively agree on another ‘faith’ different from their own. A superficial unity is achieved at the cost of ignoring genuine differences. But tolerance itself implies disagreement. You cannot ‘tolerate’ people who agree with you. They are on your side! Tolerance implies that you don’t agree on the same thing. If every person believes in the same thing that all religions are equal, then what room is there for tolerance and respect?
So on one extreme we have people who believe in absolute truth but promote conflict and separation; on the other extreme we have people who want to promote peace but they give up on the truth. Maybe there is another way. Because Jesus is the resurrection life, He can empower us to live as agents of peace and reconciliation in the society. How can the gospel do that? Well, if you believe that God accepts you because of your good works and salvation depends on how holy and righteous you are in obeying laws and regulations, then it’s very easy for you to look down on those who are not as good, holy and righteous. “Hhmph! Those are unbelievers, I want nothing to do with them. They are sinful and unclean.” Or you will look at the religious people and think, “Hmmph! Those religious fanatics, I want nothing to do with them. They are exclusive, crazy and violent!”
But the gospel says you are not saved by your performance, wisdom or morality. You are saved when you admit that you are never good enough so you need Jesus the Savior to save you from your sins. Not because of what you have done but what Christ had done on the cross for you. You are saved by grace. It’s a gift that you don’t deserve… Tim Keller said it this way: The gospel humbles you (you’re not better than others) and leads you to expect that those who don’t agree with you may be morally better than you. You would expect to find nonbelievers who are much nicer, wiser and better than we are. So you can’t look down on others. At the heart of the gospel is the life of a man who died for his enemies, prayed and forgave those who opposed and slandered him. If you follow Him, if your life is modeled after His Life, then how can you be violent to others? You can’t. His Life will release and empower you to be a peace maker, to be generous and sacrificially serve and pray for those who are different and even opposed to you. That’s what the world desperately need today. Won’t you like to be part of it?
We have just celebrated 53 years of independence. At such a time as this in Malaysia, we desperately need citizens who are committed to the common good of all and not just the interests of our own race. Perhaps there is no better time for Christians to be peace makers, to intercede for the well being of non-Christian leaders, sacrificially serve those who are different than us and sincerely invite them to our place of worship for fellowship and conversations… Perhaps that’s what it means to be salt and light in our context here in Puchong… Jesus is the Life so let us live with grace for others.
Malaysians are spoilt for choice when it comes to food. Imagine walking into a giant food court where you can find Penang Laksa, Ipoh beansprout chicken, Indian curry, Iranian kebab, Nasi Padang, Western grilled steak, Hong Kong dim sum – almost everything else you can think of under the same roof. You can choose to eat anything you want. You can mix it up – eat a bit of sushi for appetizer, then chicken rice for main course and finish with rojak for dessert. How about that? Are you feeling hungry already?
But for a lot of people, making choices about spirituality or religion is also like eating in a food court. It’s all up to your personal tastes or preference. Some like it hot, others like it cold. It can also be a bit like ‘rojak’ – you just mix up all the ingredients and hopefully it tastes good. “Oh, I like my religion with a pinch of Buddhism, a sprinkle of Christianity, two cups of Lillian Too feng shui and a glass of Hinduism – shaken, not stirred.” What’s your personal religious preference?
So… in today’s society, for someone to even claim that a certain religious practice is wrong or that some religious beliefs are untrue, that would sound arrogant and intolerant. It just doesn’t make sense. It’s as if someone say to you, “You are wrong to choose nasi lemak for lunch today” or “You are a bad person if you chose to eat “char koay teow”. You should have chosen Maggi goreng.” That sounds so intolerant (it doesn’t make sense) because we live in a time of “rojak spirituality”. People choose their faith or spirituality or religion based on personal taste or preferences. You like chocolate ice cream, I like strawberry flavor. You like Islam, I like Christianity, she likes Buddhism. It’s based on what we like. There is no right or wrong answer here.
But truth or reality is not like ice cream. It is more like insulin. When my wife Grace was pregnant with Zhen, she was found to have gestational diabetes. Maybe due to hormonal imbalance, her body does not produce enough insulin to break down sugar in her blood. So what did she need to do? Almost everyday she has to give herself an insulin injection to maintain her health. And she cannot say, “I don’t feel like taking insulin anymore. Let’s see… I think I would prefer to take ice cream instead”. If she stopped taking insulin and choose ice cream, it would be very bad for her health and for the baby. In the same way, we are all sin-sick people in need of a cure that is the gospel. We don’t get to decide what is true based on our subjective tastes. That’s make-believe. Reality is like a solid rock. Just because we don’t like it doesn’t make it false. Just because we like something doesn’t make it true either. When it comes to spirituality or faith, the reason we ought to believe something is because it is true… Truth is like insulin to someone who suffers from diabetes, it’s not ice cream.
And in the passage of Scripture we read just now, Jesus was about to go to the cross. It was just before the Passover feast. He knew His time was near. He had lived the life that we should have lived and now He would face the death that we should have died. He came from God and He was going back to God. He was about to accomplish His mission in the world and return to the Father. So he was having his last meal together with his disciples. But his disciples were worried – “Who is going to betray Jesus? The Master is leaving us but where is He going?”
So Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled; Trust in God, trust also in Me. In my Father's house are many rooms; I am going there to prepare a place for you. I will come back and take you with me. You know the way to the place where I am going."
One of the disciples Thomas asked him: “But Lord, we do not know where you are going, so how do we know the way?” And then Jesus replied with this famous statement: “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me.” Great teachers point us to the truth, but they don't claim to BE the truth. Jesus, however, makes this amazing claim about himself – I am the way, the truth and the life.
So today I’d like to consider THREE implications of Jesus’ unique claim for us, Malaysian Christians, living in a multi-religious, multi-cultural society such as ours:
1st implication: Jesus is the way so walk in Him with confidence.
Some years back, I met a church leader who believed that all religions are valid paths to God. He told me, “Yes, yes, yes… Jesus is the way to God, but there are other ways to get there too.” All roads lead to Rome. But if you come to think about it for just a minute, actually not all roads lead to Rome. You can’t drive to Rome using Jalan Puchong or Old Klang Road or Federal Highway. You just can’t pay the toll at LDP and get to Rome. Not all roads lead to Rome.
Jesus did not claim to be just one of many ways to God. He says: “I am the way; no one comes to God but by me.” That’s quite a big claim to make. A man who makes a claim to be the only way to God cannot be just another religious guru. He is either a mad man, a bad man or He is really who He claims to be. Jesus did not leave us the option of regarding him as just another wise human teacher. Great human teachers point to the truth, but they don't claim to be the truth. And yet, here we are confronted with the unique claim of Jesus to be the way, the truth and the life.
This is something that many people find hard to accept. In one of our family conversations about Christianity, my dear relatives told me, “How can you Christians believe that Jesus is the only way? That’s too narrow and exclusive. All religions are lead to God. We are like the ten blind men trying to describe an elephant. One guy touched its trunk and said “The elephant is like a snake”. Another touched its body and said, “No, it’s like a wall”. Yet another touched its leg and think it’s like a tree. As they argued amongst themselves, the King walked by and set them straight, “All of you only got part of the truth. The elephant is a huge animal and each of you touched only a part!”
At first, the story appears to be very humble and inclusive: The truth is greater than any one of us can understand. But the only way you can know that all religions have only part of the truth is if you have the whole truth. The only way you could know that none of the blind men have the whole truth is if you can see the elephant. The only way you can tell this story is if you are the King who sees everything. There is an appearance of humility but actually there is a hidden, almost arrogant assumption that the storyteller has a knowledge that is superior to all others. But how did he get this knowledge? How can he see when everyone else is blind? If I am blind and you are blind, then how can you possibly know what the elephant is really like? You see, the problem with this story is it is actually making a very exclusive statement that no one else got it all correct except himself.
And the funny thing is: the story also contains an important truth. Because the only Person who can see everything and know the complete truth is the King… It’s God Himself. No one else can do that. Like blind men, we humans are all limited and sinful creatures who can only see part of reality. There is nothing we can boast about because we are blind like everyone else groping in the dark. We won’t know what the truth is like unless… unless the King has spoken. Unless the King who knows everything reveals Himself to us and corrects our mistakes. And guess what? That is exactly what the gospel is all about. God has already revealed Himself in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. “I once was blind but now I see…” because God has revealed Himself to us. The only way we can know the truth is because He has made Himself known in Christ. He is not just one of many ways or one of many gods. Jesus is the way so let us walk in Him with confidence.
2nd implication: Jesus is the truth so proclaim Him with humility
A few months ago, the Singapore Internal Security Department called up a church leader, Pastor Tan (not to be confused with our own Pastor Tan), after receiving complaints about two video clips he had posted on his church website that showed him making "insensitive comments about Buddhism." The Ministry of Home Affairs said that his remarks were "highly inappropriate and unacceptable as they trivialised and insulted the beliefs of Buddhists and Taoists." The pastor has since removed the video clips from the website and he apologized to the Buddhist and Taoist communities, promising that such incidents would not happen again. This could easily happen in Malaysia as well and it shows the need for Christians to rethink how we relate to people of other faiths. Do we ever catch ourselves making inaccurate, insensitive or insulting jokes about other religious beliefs or practices?
Indeed, we need to share the truth of the gospel faithfully, without watering down the gospel. But we also need to speak the truth in love, gentleness and humility. We need to respect and honor those who have yet to know Christ as persons who were made in God’s image. They have the right to believe, practice and propagate their faiths even if they don’t agree with us. We should celebrate and not begrudge the fact that people of different religions are capable of great moral integrity and profound wisdom too. When we see what is good, true and beautiful being taught by others, we can thank God that in spite of our sinful natures, this is still possible because of the common humanity we share with them. Although tainted by sin, the image of God in fallen people can still produce something good, true and beautiful. And we can use these common grounds (our shared humanity) as a bridge to dialogue with others and communicate the gospel that only in Christ would the truth, the beauty and the goodness that we all cherish make any sense at all. A missionary in Indonesia Martin Goldsmith wrote, “Sin and the remnant image of God interact both in cultures and religions. So we dare not dismiss all cultures and religions as merely demonic, evil or totally false.” Instead, there is every reason for Christians to listen to our non-Christian neighbors and humbly learn what they believe about God, about life, about truth and about salvation. Seek first to understand then be understood.
Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of speaking to a mixed group of medical students at an interfaith dialogue. It was something I have always wanted to do. The topic was on the Purpose of Life. A Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Christian speaker was each given 15 minutes to present their views followed by questions and answers from the students. I felt it was a fruitful time as I learn from the other speakers and students. Interestingly, I also get to (legally and openly) share the gospel in front of a few dozen Muslim students. Open conversation and evangelism should not be seen as mutually exclusive. Instead, gospel witness invites dialogues and questions. And having meaningful dialogue with our neighbors expands and deepens our gospel witness. On a more personal level, interfaith conversations like that can happen at the mamak stall, kopitiam, cafeteria or anywhere. And I’m so glad that some of us in CDPC Puchong organized a visit to the Shah Alam mosque with a team from our partner churches in America. We went there to dialogue with the imam, to learn and ask questions about Islam. You see, this is the kind of dialogue, truth encounter and mutual understanding needed not only for our American mission team, but especially for our Malaysian youths as well. It would be tragic if we spend our whole lives growing up in Malaysia but never know anything about what our neighbors really believe or what worship means to them just down the road.
But for some Malaysians, interfaith dialogues like that are strictly forbidden and feared. There are loud voices in our society that say: “Only my religion is true, so how can I sit side by side with these other religions? What’s there to dialogue about? Interfaith dialogues will threaten and confuse our faith. No way! ”
But as a Christian, I have a different take on this. I don’t want to shut myself out from mutual learning because that only shows that we are not confident in what we believe. If we know what we believe is true and why we believe the things we believe then we can be confident that the truth will withstand any test. And the truth will be shown to be true no matter what others may say. The truth does not need to fear falsehood. Light is not threatened by darkness. Just the presence of light dispels darkness.
So there is no place for arrogance or insensitive jokes when it comes to speaking the truth. If people want to reject the gospel, let them do so because they refuse to accept the claims of the gospel, and not because they are turned off by our offensive or insensitive behavior. The truth is not an abstract list of dos-and-don’ts or a religious experience. The truth is personal and historical. Jesus is the truth so let us proclaim Him with humility, gentleness and respect.
The last implication: Jesus is the life so live with grace for others
There is a good reason why the idea that all religions are equally valid or “rojak spirituality” (as I call it) is so popular today. In a global village where we live so close to each other, people want to avoid religious violence and conflicts. After the September 11 attack, the ‘war on terror’ or closer to home, the cow-head incident in Shah Alam and the pig-head incidents at Old Klang Road, the world is desperately looking for ways in which different religious groups can live in peace, harmony and tolerance. That is a very noble and sincere motivation that we all share. But the thinking goes like this: “If you claim to have the truth and others don’t, that will lead to conflict and oppression. You will look down on others, right? My faith is better than yours. The followers of my religion are more holy than yours. You unclean people cannot come inside my place of worship.”
We know only too well how religion can be used by some politicians to divide, exclude and control people, don’t we? Recently there was a controversy in Penang about whether Muslims can pray for their non-Muslim leaders in the mosque. And there was another hoo-haa in Selayang over non-believers stepping into a mosque. For some, that’s strictly forbidden. You can’t even pray for those who don’t share your faith.
So wouldn’t it be nice if everybody thinks all religions are the same, then there is nothing to fight about rite? Sounds nice, but only if everybody in the world thinks like that… The problem is: You can have peace if and only if followers of all faiths play down their own beliefs and exclusively agree on another ‘faith’ different from their own. A superficial unity is achieved at the cost of ignoring genuine differences. But tolerance itself implies disagreement. You cannot ‘tolerate’ people who agree with you. They are on your side! Tolerance implies that you don’t agree on the same thing. If every person believes in the same thing that all religions are equal, then what room is there for tolerance and respect?
So on one extreme we have people who believe in absolute truth but promote conflict and separation; on the other extreme we have people who want to promote peace but they give up on the truth. Maybe there is another way. Because Jesus is the resurrection life, He can empower us to live as agents of peace and reconciliation in the society. How can the gospel do that? Well, if you believe that God accepts you because of your good works and salvation depends on how holy and righteous you are in obeying laws and regulations, then it’s very easy for you to look down on those who are not as good, holy and righteous. “Hhmph! Those are unbelievers, I want nothing to do with them. They are sinful and unclean.” Or you will look at the religious people and think, “Hmmph! Those religious fanatics, I want nothing to do with them. They are exclusive, crazy and violent!”
But the gospel says you are not saved by your performance, wisdom or morality. You are saved when you admit that you are never good enough so you need Jesus the Savior to save you from your sins. Not because of what you have done but what Christ had done on the cross for you. You are saved by grace. It’s a gift that you don’t deserve… Tim Keller said it this way: The gospel humbles you (you’re not better than others) and leads you to expect that those who don’t agree with you may be morally better than you. You would expect to find nonbelievers who are much nicer, wiser and better than we are. So you can’t look down on others. At the heart of the gospel is the life of a man who died for his enemies, prayed and forgave those who opposed and slandered him. If you follow Him, if your life is modeled after His Life, then how can you be violent to others? You can’t. His Life will release and empower you to be a peace maker, to be generous and sacrificially serve and pray for those who are different and even opposed to you. That’s what the world desperately need today. Won’t you like to be part of it?
We have just celebrated 53 years of independence. At such a time as this in Malaysia, we desperately need citizens who are committed to the common good of all and not just the interests of our own race. Perhaps there is no better time for Christians to be peace makers, to intercede for the well being of non-Christian leaders, sacrificially serve those who are different than us and sincerely invite them to our place of worship for fellowship and conversations… Perhaps that’s what it means to be salt and light in our context here in Puchong… Jesus is the Life so let us live with grace for others.
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